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Fred Zindi Music
The year 2014 has started on a rather sad note for the Zimbabwe music industry. On February 1, Michael Sekerani who had worked as Chairman of the Zimbabwe Union of Musicians (ZUM) alongside Robson Nyanzira and Samaita Zindi, passed away. He had been ill for some time. He was buried at Warren Hills on February 4.
Sekerani, who had previously worked for the Bulawayo branch of the Union together with George Salim and Paul Lunga of Jazz Impacto band had relocated to Harare where the Union headquarters was situated at the National Railways compound off Seke Road. Sekerani was responsible for persuading the then Minister of Information and Publicity, Webster Shamu into becoming the patron of Zimbabwe’s musicians. He will be sadly missed. May his dear soul rest in peace.
As I write this article, one of Zimbabwe’s pioneer musicians, who has been instrumental in shaping Zimbabwe’s music for the past 40 years, Greenford Jangano of the Harare Mambo band, has been admitted at Parirenyatwa Hospital with an ailment that has affected his lungs. Greenford is indeed a great music icon and most of the famous Zimbabwean musicians of the 1980’s and 1990’s passed through his hands. People like William Kashiri (now Mbare Trio), Clancy Mbirimi, Friday Mbirimi of Mbare Trio, Tanga wekwa Sando, Newman Chipeni of ‘Gundamusaira’ fame, the late Paul Silla, Virginia Silla, the late Newton Kanengoni, Elisha Josam of The band Two plus Two, Charles Jangano, Mike, Fari of Summer Breeze and many other musicians were at one time or other part of the Harare Mambo Band. Charles Jangano who was born on 10 October, 1958 also became a member of his father’s band, The Harare Mambos.
Green Jangano, now aged 79 and founder member of the Harare Mambo Band is probably one of the oldest musicians still alive in Zimbabwe today. The Mambos were up until 1999 probably the longest serving band in the country with a name that dates as far back as 1958. They were also the first local band to appear on a white dominated television when television was first installed in Zimbabwe, around 1969.
Green Jangano was born in Manicaland on the 13th January, 1935 and moved to Harare after his secondary education in pursuit of employment. While working at Portland Cement, he met William Chiguma, another musician and they teamed up to form a band. Jangano started off as a lead guitarist in 1958, then a bass guitarist in the 1960s and finally as a keyboards player in the 1970s. Green, as he is affectionately known by fellow musicians, met West Nkosi, a South African music producer, at Cyril Jennings Hall, Highfield in 1959 where he was scouting for musicians to record. There was stiff competition among the musicians present, but Green’s band won the contest and thus became known as the Harare Mambo Band. The song ‘Zvanhasi Ngezveduwo’ came immediately after. After that he began to take music seriously and took over as the manager of Afro-Cuban Band which had failed to make an impact in Harare. He took the Harare Mambos to places like The Federal Hotel (ku Fed) and Queen Elizabeth Hotel (ku Liz) where he secured contracts to play for patrons in pubs.
He later worked for British American Tobacco (BAT) a company which also gave him the opportunity to advertise their product, Players Gold Leaf cigarettes and later Lever Brothers where he took the band around the whole country to advertise Sunlight Soap from a mobile van.
The Harare Mambos were involved in the promotion of many products for private companies in Zimbabwe. Companies such as BAT (British American Tobacco) and Lever Brothers, have got the Harare Mambos to thank for the promotion and publicity of their products and the profits they made during the early sixties before television and before most people could afford radios. The band used to travel nationwide on a publicity campaign with Green at the forefront.
The Mambos had a lot of line-up changes in the late sixties and at some stage due to an increase in the number of work contracts they became so busy to the extent that smaller bands known as The Mambos A, The Mambos B and The Mambos C were formed.
However, by 1985, only one band remained with Green and William Kashiri as the only two original members. At one stage, apart from Newton Kanengoni, the keyboards player, and Clancy Mbirimi, the bass player, The Mambos had become a family affair. Members included Green himself on second keyboards, Green’s wife on vocals, Green’s son, Charles on piano and the late Paul Silla, Green’s brother-in-law on lead guitar
In 1990, Green and the Harare Mambo band signed a contract with Zimbabwe Sun Hotels to give performances at Monomotapa Hotel in Harare and the band stayed there until 1992 when the same Hotel group moved the band to Elephant Hills Hotel in Victoria Falls where to this day, Green has established a home. Green, like the late Michael Sekerani was at one time in the early 1980’s also the president of the Zimbabwe Musicians Union.
His survival as a musician who has managed well mainly on music alone over the years is proof of his shrewdness as a music businessman.
Although the Harare Mambos played a lot of copyright music, they have laid down some good original tracks such as ‘Mbuya Nehanda’ (sometimes titled ‘Tora Gidi Uzvitonge’) which has become a classic Chimurenga song in Zimbabwe since 1980.
Charles Jangano who was in Zimbabwe last year in July to see his sick father, is currently based in Dallas, Texas in the United States of America while Virginia is now based in the United Kingdom.
Greenford Jangano is planning to go back to Victoria Falls where he has lived for the past 22 years once his health improves.
It is indeed sad to know that the man who started it all is poorly. We all wish him a quick recovery and hope that he will gain enough strength to put the Harare Mambos Band and Zimbabwean music back where it belongs.
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