By Memory Chirere

Although many Zimbabwean music lovers are agreed that Alick Macheso is the King of Sungura, the Zimbabwean brand of Rhumba, that is as far as the agreement will go.

As Masimba Kuchera admits in an article on the Chesopower website, ‘there have been many schools of thought on the (real) strength of Macheso- some arguing about his skills with the bass guitar, some contending that it is his vocals and others proffering his dancing skills, it is generally agreed that the musician is of immense talent.’

When people agree that you are extremely talented but go on to debate hotly about exactly whether your strength lies in theway you walk or the way you run, then that is a mark of genius. You actually put people in a crisis of naming aspects of a phenomenon.

When people agree that you are extremely talented but go on to debate hotly about exactly whether your strength lies in the way you walk or the way you run, then that is a mark of genius.

But watching him play with his new band in Bindura in late 1999, well after the album Magariro and just after releasing the second album Vakiridzo, one was not certain if Alick would be anything. After all there were stronger Sungura echoes then from Nikolas Zakaria, Ngwenya Brothers, Chimbetu, Tazvida and others. It happened at Bindura’s tiny Kuyedza cocktail bar, of all places in Zimbabwe. It was on an odd Saturday late afternoon and there were only about fifty people hanging around, killing the hours with the help of a beer. If you looked around you, you could see the chimneys of Trojan mine in the distance and outside, Chipadze Township was taking a weekend nap. On such a day one felt some easy pity for Alick.

^ Alick Macheso performing at an afternoon show in Harare.
 
This was a man ‘born from somewhere near here’ that had just left (and some said been dumped by) the great Nicholas Zakaria and was trying his luck on his own. Orchestra Mberikwazvo looked like a band hastily put together. Considering their youthfulness, they looked like a cheeky little band of mutineers!

Macheso looked nervous and someone in the little crowd constantly called at him, claiming loudly that he was a friend of Macheso’s father.

Macheso looked nervous and someone in the little crowd constantly called at him, claiming loudly that he was a friend of Macheso’s father. And Macheso did well to wave and smile at ‘the family friend’ in acknowledgement. It was not surprising because Macheso was born indeed around Shamva-Bindura in 1968. 

Pakutema Munda from the album Magariro and Chitubu from Vakiridzo, seemed to touch the audience and suddenly the rude crowd swelled in size. Apparently they were coming into the bar for free! Crowd and band warmed up to each other and something in Zakaria Zakaria, on the lead guitar, seemed to burst open and he moved backwards and forward and the crowd liked it too. His resemblance with Nikolas Zakaria was awesome and if Macheso had picked a quarrel with Nikolas, why was Zakaria Zakaria here with Macheso, the Bindura revellers must have wondered.
 
Much later you felt that the crowd realised that it had somehow abused the band on the makeshift stage and serious jive began. Macheso smiled knowingly and the trips to the counter and back multiplied and one wanted to see how the wiry young man and his band would go on.

All that in sharp contrast to Macheso’s current shows at Pamuzinda or the Chitungwiza Aquatic complex. Here people raise their arms to Macheso, wanting to embrace the man, his song, his dance and band, to preserve them in a securely sealed envelope for the sake of memory.

All that in sharp contrast to Macheso’s current shows at Pamuzinda or the Chitungwiza Aquatic complex. Here people raise their arms to Macheso, wanting to embrace the man, his song, his dance and band, to preserve them in a securely sealed envelope for the sake of memory. He obviously wouldn’t quite fit into the tiny Kuyedza bar back in his Bindura. He has not only grown. He has become a phenomenon.
 
Macheso has the unusual gift of poetry. His lyrics elicit an easy-going camaraderie. He sings like the guy from next door, very familiar and liberating. That is why he is the favourite man of the ordinary mechanic, the unassuming kombi driver, the seller of ordinary wares and many more. And if you look and listen, the Macheso's lyrics appeal to the little and remote reserves of energy in the people of a country faced with economic challenges.

Macheso has the unusual gift of poetry. His lyrics elicit an easy-going camaraderie. He sings like the guy from next door, very familiar and liberating.

Listening to Upenyu Hwemunhu, you sit back in the kombi, and feel very private and secure. Indeed Upenyu hwemunhu hunozivikanwa nemurarami wahwo- only the individual really knows where his/her life is. You want to laugh and cry, too, because in these moments of hardships we have all done many shameful things just in order to get to the next day.

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Don   |2009-01-06 15:27:54 I can see kuti Chirere loves Macheso so much that he has studied him in depth. Macheso doesn't really do anything for me though. One man's meat... Reply 0   1

me too   |2009-01-06 18:01:26 I don't like Macheso either.He's just like any other ordinary musician to me.yeh one man's meat. Reply 0   2

nyasha kamota   |2009-05-04 12:17:12 IF U CAN HAVE SOME TIME PLEASE LISTEN TO MACHESO'S MUSIC AND I THINK WEGA UCHAONA KUTI CHIWEWE IS RIGHT Reply 1   0

james Shanga  - macheso   |2009-01-08 10:12:29 I think anogona Macheso. Not an ordinary musician even if you do not like his music. Reply 1   0

iwewe  - he knows how to play   |2009-01-12 17:08:01 To be honest with you all,if you do not like macheso then you dont know good music when it comes to music from our zimbabwe. my love for macheso goes back to the days i used to be in zimbabwe driving around in a nissan sunny with people turning their heards all because of the music i was playing in my car,either the latest macheso's cd's or just an oldie......when macheso came to uk in 2008 for the first time,every in that hall in leeds did not know what to expect as promoters had promised every one that macheso was goin to be playing tunes from his latest album. from the moment he unleashed Madhuve..every one in that hall when mental as they could not believe what they were hearing,,another smash hit form the sundura king himself... often pple class rock stars as godds and i would proudly stand on top of the hill and say macheso is a sungura godd..Made in Zimbabwe. Reply 2   0

jespongo  - true genius   |2009-01-12 11:42:46 cheso is way too talented.Its not about his voice or dancing which are equally good.Its the beat,, period.Good beats produce good cash just like Koffi olomide,or kwaito which we rarely understand but with a good beat and hard bass line a song can be enjoyable.Anything else is extra but thats what forms a the core of music...BEAT arrangement and Macheso has plenty. Reply 1   0

S. Runganga  - I mean good   |2009-01-16 02:25:44 Macheso is the sungura king. The rest vavekuronda Matsimba. Reply 1   0

nyasha kamota   |2009-05-04 12:14:33 amanaka tinganyeperane zvedu zvimwe zwinhu zvese but baba sharon havana kumira "fine". macheso is a guru and from my own point of view currently he is the best on top of the rest, others follow. Reply 0   0

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