established 01/04/00 Sustaining the principles of love in action : ubuntu /sharing PORTFOLIO OF CULTURAL JOURNALISM : the doors of culture and learning shall be opened struhuru@gmail.com

The men in question were Wazimbo last spotted in the market with a half jack of jack. chico antonio certainly still playing Sunday sundown on Katembe Island, certainly still in the downtown penthouse apartment and making music. And Matuz as blind as ever, as honest as ever. And who is new on the scene? Rufus from Kapa Dech was playing some kind of jazz when he was in Cape Town. And how is the message in the music? Loud, proud and in that thunderous voice Phillipe Nasavelle sang the blues. And Celso Paco, drummer magnificent??

These guys stayed on camper sheets on cement floors when they hit Cape Town, and they did it with humility! Thank you.

See Chico Antonio and his band perform Sunday sea-side on Katembe Island (off Maputo).

Come back those good old times when Maputo knew how to speak in Music!


The body of these recordings were made at the Cape Town Maputo festival. Here Chico Antonio blessed us with his natural ability. Isaq Matuz, the blind jewel of XaiXai performs alongside Zolani Mahola. He brought such Love from so far. Halleluiyah. 

The show was sponsored to the tune of R40 000 by OudeLibertas Ampitheate Distell Marietha Chennels. Telkom ISDN Phuleng Khabutlane sponsored recording to the tune of R10 000. I hold the master. 

And let us remember the great example of humanity set for us by Gito Baloi. Unfortunately it is on his grave that the resurrection of Mozambiquean music will be formed. How much he wanted to be a part of it and how much he was fostering a unity of expression across the region of Southern Africa. Alas another good man to be cut down by an aimless gunman armed with the foolishness of jealousy.  

* I enter 2000 with Panthera Azhul to the Polano Hotel. Make contact with Leman Pinto. (Remember Mac saying in subsequent years, 'every album got to have a lemon!')
* Make way via Roland Hohlberg's confusion with LISBOA MATAVEL to JB Recordings.    
* Javed Hassim shows an interesting catalogue including Radio Mozambique archives. Much understand business man. Made it from nothing, selling cassettes on the streats of Pakistan as a small boy.

PARTY UPTOWN PARTY DOWNTOWN PARTY BEACHSIDE MOVE - original diaries entitled Romeot et Juliette inspired by the marriage of rich and poor . These texts were lost in transformation, however the spirit of understanding must continue to embrace any differences and difficulties that mat arise.

* Return 2001 to the palace of Ana Karina
* Witness WAZIMBO at Africa Cafe.
* Travel to Katembe Island to meet Chico Antonio
* Interviewed and Entertained by Kapa Dech

2002 FEBRUARY 14TH IMPORT CHICO AND MATUZ TO CAPE TOWN FOR LIVE RECORDINGS

* The concept Maputo's Famous (shoe polish syndicate) is borne with release date July 2003. Travel to Maputo to stay with Chico and prepare agreements.
* South African companies show fear of JB recordings and blacklisted busInesses.

AND THUS COMMENCE A DELAY THAT DOES NOT DIMINISH THE POWER OF WHAT WE HAVE TO SAY! 

The jazz scene in Mozambique

by Mozambican Trumpeter Leman Pinto,

Before independence in 1975 the sound of jazz could only be found in expensive hotels and night clubs. Musicians - Portuguese and Mozambicans alike - played mostly American jazz tunes and South African music like Kwela etc.

The influential musicians I used to listen to during the Portuguese Colonial time were American Jazz musicians through the local radio station (Radio Clube de Moçambique). I used to hear musicians like Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Randy Brecker, Miles Davis, Hugh Masekela, Freddie Hubbard and many other jazz and blues musicians like BB King, Tina Turner and others so I used to listen to this kind of music on the local radio station. Also they used to play these musician's songs at the clubs but at that time I was too young to enter and also I couldn't afford the money to be there.

I do imitate and play jazz music like Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, Hugh Masekela etc., because I had to learn from them, we started from there.

It wasn't until after independence when Mozambican jazz groups emerged such as Grupo Jazz Maputo and others groups that splintered off of Grupo Jazz Maputo - Cobra Jazz. Chude Mondlane was one of the best jazz singers, as well as Artur Garrido, who played a long time ago before independence.

I believe that when you hear some Mozambican music you can feel the Latin American influence because Latin music is mixed with African music like Rumba which happened years ago with slavery. Mozambican Marrabenta would be a beat most linked to Latin. In Mozambique we have so many tribes who play different sounds and rhythms. When I compose my music I just pick one of

them and work with it. On this album, I worked with four of them like Xigubo, Mapiko, Muthimba and Marrabenta.

Education was lacking during the colonial times and today we still have the same problems even though we are trying to move forward. In Mozambique today we only have one music school. We need to build more music schools and incorporate music education into the public education system. We need more music teachers and teachers who have a world influence and experience that can begin to broaden the Mozambican jazz scene - expanding and reaching across boundaries - instead of staying in the same place. I really have little to say about the jazz scene in Mozambique because I think people or musicians should have schools to improve the music they play. There is a great problem in providing musicians the opportunity to broaden their jazz perspective, as few are able to receive the proper education that one can find when studying outside, in countries like South Africa, USA, and Portugal.

As a result of this, after independence, some people travelled outside the country to be educated in order to come back and teach other musicians how to read and play music.

Today in Maputo, which is a small city, we have more bands playing Jazz them before independence, but the style has stayed more or less the same. There are good jazz musicians like Orlando, Jose Maria, Dua, Filipinho, Matchote, Nanando and myself. You can look for them at the Polana Hotel, Sheik, Art bar, Tchova, Teatro Avenida, Costa do Sol Restaurante, Cine

Africa, and Gil Vicente.

Since the musicians don't have enough progression in their music, people tend to lean toward music from outside the country, which is wrong. As in many parts of the world, people expect to hear music for free, and don't respect the time and effort musicians put into their work before they get up on the stage to play. But music is a crucial part of the world, influencing all parts of the society - cultural, economical and political, and this will change. The local radio stations do give radio air-play to the local musicians. This is good.

And, there are many different kinds of people who are interested in music - some of them like jazz and the other people love to dance at the Discotec. The people who come to listen to me play represent both the Mozambican community and the international community. I believe that after I recorded Automy dzi Txintxile, people started to enjoy my music more and appreciate my way of mixing my culture with my contemporary more worldly vision.