Misplaced Pages

John Chibadura

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Zimbabwean musician
John Chibadura
Birth nameJohn Nyamukokoko
Also known asMr Chitungwiza
Born1957
Died(1999-08-04)4 August 1999 (aged 42)
Genresmuseve reggae, rumba, sungura
Years active1980–1999
Musical artist

John Chibadura (1957–1999) was a Zimbabwean guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a member of pioneering sungura group The Sungura Boys, and found great success in Zimbabwe and Mozambique with his band The Tembo Brothers and as a solo artist.

Early life

Chibadura was born John Nyamukokoko in 1957 in Guruve District, Zimbabwe. Chibadura's parents were migrant workers from Mozambique, and his mother died in 1962. His father remarried, and Chibadura's stepmother had him live with his grandfather, who played the mbira. As a child Chibadura took care of his father's goats, and on finishing school he worked as a truck driver.

Musical career

Chibadura began learning banjo in 1968. In 1980 he moved to Harare, where he lived in the town of Chitungwiza that later gave him his nickname "Mr Chitungwiza". In Harare he joined Ephraim Joe's band the Sungura Boys as lead singer, appearing on the album John and The Sungura Boys in 1984. Nhamo Anthony Mhiripiri writes that "The Sungura Boys...is generally thought to be the first 'institution' of sungura music that nurtured and develped most future sungura stars including John Chibadura". Chibadura's band the Tembo Brothers, formed in 1985, were one of the most successful Zimbabwean rumba bands of the 1980s and 90s, and toured the UK twice. They were also extremely popular in Mozambique, where they played to crowds of 40 thousand people and met Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano several times.

In the 1990s Chibadura became ill and had to mortgage his property and sell his possessions to pay for treatment. He died on 4 August 1999, aged 42, and received a pauper's funeral.

Musical style and themes

Chibadura is primarily remembered as a player of sungura and, with his band the Tembo Brothers, of Congolese rumba. However Chibadura also incoporated traditional Zimbabwean music into his sound, making use of indigenous Shona drumming and mbira on tracks like "'Baya WaBaya" and "Nhamo Yatakawona", as well as recording music in the genre of museve. In the 1980s and 1990s Chibadura recorded several reggae songs, some of which were compiled and released together in 2004.

Chibadura is known for his "intense voice and achingly poignant lyrics," with themes of "downbeat misery: broken families, excessive dowries, wasted opportunities." His 1988 song "Zuva Rekufa Kwangu" (The Day I am Going to Die) includes the lyric "my God, I want to know the day of my death."

Discography

Albums
  • John and The Sungura Boys (1984, Gramma Records), cassette release with The Sungura Boys
Compilations
  • The Best of John Chibadura (1986, Zimbabwe Music Corporation)
  • The Greatest Reggae Hits (2004)

References

  1. ^ Moses Chikowero (2007), "The state and music policy in post-colonial Zimbabwe, 1980–2000", Muziki, 4 (1), Routledge: 111–128, doi:10.1080/18125980701754637
  2. ^ Tanaka Chidora; Doreen Rumbidzai Tivenga; Ezra Chitando, eds. (2024), "Introduction: Locating Zimdancehall in the Trajectory of Music in Zimbabwe", The Zimdancehall Revolution, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 1–26, doi:10.1007/978-3-031-41854-9, ISBN 978-3-031-41853-2
  3. ^ Leon Jackson. Tembo Brothers Biography at AllMusic. Retrieved 2024-11-18.
  4. ^ Nhamo Anthony Mhiripiri (2011), "'Welcome singing sungura queens': Cultural studies and the promotion of female musicians in a Zimbabwean male-dominated music genre", Journal of Music Research in Africa, 8 (1), Taylor & Francis: 103–119, doi:10.1080/18125980.2011.570304
  5. ^ Fred Zindi (2019-07-15), "Why Chibadura had no manager (In the groove with Fred Zindi)", NewsDay, retrieved 2024-11-25
  6. ^ Steve Huey. John Chibadura Biography at AllMusic. Retrieved 2024-11-18.
  7. ^ Tony Perman (December 2012), "Sungura in Zimbabwe and the Limits of Cosmopolitanism", Ethnomusicology Forum, 21 (3), Taylor & Francis: 374–401, doi:10.1080/17411912.2012.709815
  8. Judy Kendall; Banning Eyre (2006). "Zimbabwe". Rough Guide to World Music: Africa & Middle East. Vol. 1 of 3 (3rd ed.). Rough Guides Ltd. pp. 706–718. ISBN 1843535513.
  9. "John Chibadura's legacy lives on", The Zimbabwean, 2011-06-23, retrieved 2024-11-18
  10. Tanaka Chidora; Joseph Mujere (2024), "Burying Sauro: The Necrography of Zimdancehall", in Tanaka Chidora; Doreen Rumbidzai Tivenga; Ezra Chitando (eds.), The Zimdancehall Revolution, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 233–260, doi:10.1007/978-3-031-41854-9, ISBN 978-3-031-41853-2
  11. Robert Christgau, "Consumer Guide: August, 2020 – The Best of John Chibadura (review)", robertchristgau.com, retrieved 2024-11-21

External links

Categories: