THE LION ROARS ON

Zimbabwean musician Thomas Mapfumo turns 80 and his Chimurenga music continues to influence new generations

- ■JOHN CLEWLEY

Musician and bandleader Thomas Mapfumo is 80 years old this month. The man, often dubbed the “Lion of Zimbabwe”, is still hugely popular in his home country, despite having gone into exile and resettling in Oregon in 2000.

Mapfumo also has a nickname in his native Shona language, Mukanya, the translation of which means pompous monkey; the name reflects Mapfumo’s enormous influence and refers to his Chimurenga music (struggle), which was a key element in resisting the then British colonial government.

Mapfumo was born in 1945, south of the Zimbabwean capital Harare, and for his first 10 years he lived a traditional, rural life. After his family moved to Mbare, a township in Harare, he began to explore traditional Shona music, especially the ngoma drum and the mbira (thumb piano or sanza), both of which would be later incorporated into his music.

Interestingly, across Central Africa (from the Congo in the west to Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania in the east) various versions of the mbira were used in traditional music and the transcription of mbira music to the guitar helped create the amazing guitar style found in all those countries (think of past masters like Tanzanian Hukwe Zawose or Zimbabwe's own Stella Chiweshe).