SINKING INTO OBLIVION?

Vincent Gono , Features Editor
WITH more than 40 albums to his name and still not tired, he is one of the veteran musicians who can be put in the same league of pre-independence surviving musicians such as Oliver Mtukudzi and Thomas Mapfumo.
His name — Jonah Moyo is however, probably forgotten, much so because he is no longer as prolific as he was then and perhaps because he has done little to avoid sinking into oblivion in the competitive industry where time and irrelevancy has retired some.

To the new music generation the name Jonah Moyo doesn’t ring a bell at all but he is one of the revered sons of Zimbabwean music whose name remains etched in the minds of the older generation who synonymise it with long time hits such as Solo na Mutsai, Barbra and many other songs that were chart toppers.

Having started his music career at the age of 20 in 1977, he has no doubt seen it all and says he is content with what he has amassed over the years through music.

Sunday Life (SL) interviewed the 59-year-old veteran musician Jonah Moyo (JM) from his South African base. Excerpts of the interview are below.

SL: Where are you based now and are you still into music? If so are there any new productions?

JM: I am based in Thohoyandou and yes, I am still much into music. Music is my life. I was born a musician, I sleep, eat, and drink music. I will be releasing my latest offering this month if all goes well Vol. 39.

SL: How many albums have you done to date and can you point out something tangible that you say is from the proceeds of your music career?

JM: I have more than 40 albums to date. I am very proud of what I have achieved in music. When I left home for South Africa my main goal was to take all my children to university level because l didn’t get that chance. I am happy to say that I achieved my goal and I can now walk with my shoulders high because education is the best thing to give to children.

SL: Did you remarry after your wife passed on and how many wives and children do you have altogether.

JM: I have four children — Shepherd who plays bass for me in my band who has an Arts degree and also works as a studio sound engineer here, Cresencia who has a BCom in Accounting degree from the University of Limpopo, Jonah Jnr who has two degrees; one in Acturial Science and another in Teaching from Wits University and Jareth the last born who is in Turkey at Istanbul University doing a degree in Computer Engineering and is in his final year. The boy is brilliant and was the best student after getting distinctions on all his subjects at A-level.

Now this is what I call my most decorated achievements in my life and my career as a musician. I feel content having achieved this feat and the rest is history.

I am still a widower. I lost my wife in 2008 to cancer and I haven’t remarried. I also have a house in the leafy Rhodene suburb in Masvingo where I will stay when I plan to come back home in the near future.

SL: You are born from a respected artistic family. Did you inherit arts genes from your parents and what are some other siblings doing apart from Aaron Chiundura Moyo?

JM: I have another elder brother besides Aaron who started music before me and his name was Joshua. He started his music career playing lead guitar for Thomas Mapfumo. He is now late. At one time when I left Mashava he joined my band playing the rhythm guitar. We travelled around the world together. He left when he decided to start his own band. We are a very big family and my other siblings are scattered all over the place. I think we inherited the artistic genes from my father who was an accordion and a renowned story teller where Aaron inherited his art from as well.

SL: You are known to have songs in other languages other than Shona. Are you the composer and are you multi-lingual?

JM: I am the composer of all my albums from the first one. I write in different languages. When I am not familiar with the language I look for someone who can translate for me. Mostly I sing in Venda, Shangani, Zulu, Shona and sometimes English.