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Fred Zindi Music
Paul Brickhill (56) the founder of popular arts venue, the Book Cafe is fighting thyroid cancer.
In a gesture of solidarity with the man who has provided a platform to launch many performing artistes in Harare, musicians got together to show their appreciation and to fund-raise for Paul.
The solidarity move for the Book Café founder was initiated by Zimbabwean star and true philanthropist, Oliver Mtukudzi and his drummer-cum-manager Sam Mataure. Both Tuku and Sam saw it fit to take the opportunity to acknowledge the work of Paul and the Book Café for artistes of Zimbabwe, many of whom have risen to wide acclaim, thanks to the platform provided for them by Paul and the Book Café.
Many musicians consider the Book Café as their musical base.
Indeed dozens of artistes packed what appeared to be a small venue on Tuesday night to pay special tribute to Paul Brickhill. A musician himself, Brickhill who played with many bands including Luck Street Blues, has had a long love affair with the arts in southern Africa since his youth, which gave him the special gift to understand the unique needs of artistes and complexities of the industry in Zimbabwe.
Also a great visionary and equipped with a skilled team of arts and venue managers, Brickhill’s passion and unique understanding of artistes’ needs grew the Book Café from a humble café with a few music acts, to one of the most popular performing arts platforms in the country, which has come to be known widely in the world and saluted by artistes from all over the planet.
Come Tuesday, August 19, and we were at the Book Cafe. There was no parking space for anyone who arrived after 7pm. This was, in every way, a big show. Blacks and whites mixed and mingled on this joyous occasion. Ten bands and some guest artistes were to play on this night. The show, obviously designed for venues larger than the 120 to 150-capacity Book Cafe could not contain the 500 plus crowd that thronged the venue..
The show opened with emerging artiste, Tino Amanda with her band, Afri- Spirit. They gave a convincing act and the crowd loved it as evidenced by their screams and ululations. In the audience was dreadlocked Amanda’s father, Cleo Manyowa, a musician in his own right, who was busy filming the event and was pleased with his daughter’s performance as he shouted excitedly, “That is great, mwanangu.”
Next was a mbira outfit calling itself Nyamasvisva. This was a two-man show, but the reverberation coming out of the P.A. system gave the false impression of a full band playing. With their powerful vocal style, they managed to deliver and push the audience into a trance-like state. Within minutes, it was all over.
The third artiste on the stage was the famous Chirikure Chirikure. Who ever thought that poetry could be so exciting on a night like this? Chirikure seemed nervous and unsure at first, but when he delved into his rhetorical and philosophical expression with the backing of Evans Mapfumo on guitar, the crowd went into a frenzy.
Soon after, the M.C. , Thomas Brickhill, announced the coming on to the stage of Evans Mapfumo with his band, Kiat Africa. I had never heard of this band before but they delivered a real professional performance to the extent that even I was tempted to be on my feet.
Another delivery came from Marcy, who sang in Swahili. Although I failed to understand a word she said except “Thank you”, “Amazing” and “Awesome!”, words which were uttered right at the end of her performance, I must say, whatever it is she sang was powerful. She provided a resonant introduction for the bigger performances that would follow. We all loved it.
Then came Edith WeUtonga. That woman who has become better as she got bigger started off by telling us that she grew up at the Book Café. I do not think that she literally grew up there but we all understood what she meant. On this night she revealed a talent for fiendishly catchy classic bass playing and singing as Kelly Rusike of Jazz Invitation watched admiringly from the audience. Edith was amazing and the band has got tighter since the last time I heard them.
Next was Hope Masike who gave a theatrical performance on mbira without her backing band. She introduced herself as someone who had also grown up at the Book Café and wished Paul Brickhill well before she successfully morphed from the beguiling seductress to the unhinged star that she is. Her smooth voice connected well with the mbira chord- progression. After her performance, she asked me, “How was my performance? Honestly?”
“Excellent!” was my response, and she seemed satisfied with that answer.
Immediately after, came Albert Nyathi who perplexed the crowd with his clicks as an introduction to his “Welcome to Zimbabwe” poem. The foreign visitors in the audience clapped loudly to show their appreciation when he was done. Indeed Nyathi is a talented poet. Everyone was impressed. If he was in ancient Greece, he would have long been conferred with the title “poet-laureate”. We await Zimbabwe’s institutions to act on that.
Victor Kunonga, a seasoned musician came on the stage after Albert Nyathi. Together with his band, they belted some instrumentals which were interrupted every now and again by well rehearsed vocals.
To spice up their act, well choreographed dances came in as they played and that kept the crowd’s attention onto the stage. Appearing before our very own eyes was this very professional act and before we knew it, it was all over.
It was getting late, but the crowd kept pouring into the small venue. At around 11 pm, it was time for the biggest act. Although it had been advertised as The Oliver Mtukudzi Trio, comprising the man himself, Sam Mataure on drums and Enoch Piroro on bass, it ended up with two more session players, one Adrian Muparutsa who had recently arrived from Cape Town on guitar and a keyboards player.
Tuku, who had initiated this whole solidarity gig, rewarded the Book Café with a performance that surely calls for a redefinition of the word “crowd-pleaser” as he opened up his performance with the song, “Hero” in which he sang about how Safirio Madzikatire and other late musicians should become national heroes.
After the first song, almost everybody was now at the front of the stage. Arguably, the most vociferous reaction of all the headliners on that night came out when Tuku took to the stage with fans bellowing along and letting off flares.
He went into the next tune, “Help Me Lord, I Am Feeling Low” which he described as one for diffusing tension. Later, Ammara Brown joined in and together they sang “Street Kid”. Ammara showed off her seductive gyrations and splits much to the crowd’s delight as she did a duet with the big man. The act was too short for the crowd who were now in the mood to keep on dancing since the drinks at the bar had dried up.
The last act was Chikwata 263, featuring Paul Brickhill’s eldest son, Thomas, Hector Rufaro Mugani on mbira, Blessing Chimanga on drums and Raymond Mupfumira on bass. They came up with rock style music which was fused with mbira. It sounded good.
On this night, Paul Brickhill’s dream of a platform for free cultural expression in Zimbabwe, was fulfilled. We all wish him well and hope that he will soon recover from his ill-health.
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