In the African context, art cannot afford to be short on a consciousness of sorts, be it political or social. From Ratsie Setlhako to Ngugi wa Thiong’o, various forms of artistic expression have been used as vehicles for a voice that though enthralls, is laden with the triumphs, pains and dreams of a people, their peoples.
Ike Mogorosi aka Baba Mozekho, a business teacher at Shangano Secondary School put aside chalk to give wings to his dreams through music.
He has taken the same twelve notes that have been strung out over the years, across all music making peoples of the world and informed them with a sense of his worldview and immediate social environment.
For the bespectacled Sebina, village teacher, it is not the spell of the magic of music that inspired him to take to the Crystal Sounds Studios in Zimbabwe. The stimulus for the recording of Buyani, an eight track CD, is not to be found in the drive for the glitz of the limelight and the oft-elusive financial success. The work simply sets out to serve as an extension of his day job in the classroom, showing the youngsters that there is more to life than booze, sex and delinquency.
“I have taken some unemployed former and present students of mine and grouped them into the Marvelous Voices. They are my back-up singers in the recording and I will be producing their album later in the year. I believe that out -of-school youth really need to be supported and empowered. I am trying to do something for our Vision 2016 by giving them a sense of purpose, so that they stop roaming the streets ba a nwa majalwa. I also wanted to show them that one can make a living out of music,” says Baba Mozekho.
The singer/keyboard player who is inspired by Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Pure Gold identifies his genre as Iscatha-jazz, a fusion of iscathamiya, a form of Zulu inspired accappella made popular around the world by Ladysmith Black Mambazo and the rhythmic pulse of mbanqanga and at times the strains of maskandi.
The Shakawe-born Baba Mozekho wrote and produced all of the songs in Buyani. The title, which has a touch of the call and response style of singing in the mode of the South African Platform One and Pure Gold is a call to the Kalanga to come to the Lord and be saved from the coming Armageddon. Mmanlembe is an accapella medley of the Ikalanga folksong of the same name and the Tswana standard, Marabele, which are seamlessly merged with an interesting key change in the latter, employed for ornamental effect. The voices arguably give a flawless interpretation of the classics without the instrumental backing that usually gloss over the blemishes in the vocals.
Eke Ntolo is a nostalgic reflection of the childhood games such as morabaraba, dithupa and koi before the loss of innocence. The song works well as a documentary of the communal singing of many African people, characterised by the apparent absence of verses, making everyone a true participant in music making.
Little Child is a poem put to music, with phrasing that exploits the technique of repetition reminiscent of the apartheid era, Mzwakhe Mbuli. Baba Mozekho reveals that a news article about young women who commit abortion inspired the piece. The verses recited are what the unborn child would have told the world if it had a voice.
Other songs to check out in the album are the danceable Re a Lo Dumedisa and the multi-lingual poetry of Tootini.
Though the songs can stand well against some purveyors of the genre, such as Pure Magic, the only glitch is the low quality sound production that is evident throughout the recording.
The sleeve could also have been done better to help the product catch the eye and fly off the shelves.
