adminFred Zindi Music
I am looking at myself at the age of 10. I did not have a laptop, an iPod, a Facebook account, YouTube, WhatsApp, Internet or Twitter. When I was 10, I only had one thing to play with. It was called OUTSIDE! There we would gather some torn-up old blankets or clothes, rolled them into an imitation football and played with the neighbours’ children. Alternatively, we would shape some pieces of wood into fake guitars and pretend to play them.
We also beat the rubbish bins with sticks and made some music out of these. That was great fun at the age of 10. Jethro Shasha (who lived two houses away from ours) and I eventually became musicians as a result of playing outside. I am sure this is the life Ernest Tanga Kambadzo Sando aka Tanga wekwa Sando also experienced at the age of 10 or during his teenage years.
Last week, I was fortunate enough to visit Pa Fio Outdoor and Entertainment Centre in Highfield, opposite Mushandirapamwe Hotel, which is Tanga’s joint serving as a sports bar and nightclub. On arrival, I was impressed by the state-of-the-art finishes to the club.
The club, although small, had all the facilities one expects in a modern nightclub. Thirty minutes after my arrival, Bob “The Headmaster” Nyabinde was doing a solo act at the club. He sang six of his well-known songs, “Ha- pana”, “Pane Nyaya”, “Hope”, “Pfuma Yangu”, “Tonga Nyaya” and “Vanasikana” which were embellished with a bit of humour in between.
Next was Tanga wekwa Sando surrounded by six band members and playing his favourite tunes “Paidamoyo”, “Wake”, “KuMbare”, “PaFio”, “Nyenyedzi” and “Buhera”.
When talking about Tanga’s band members, it is hard to ignore John Muyambo, a.k.a. Chibhodhoro who made the congas talk and walk while spewing a lot of humour in between. It takes a particular musical skill to play percussion the way Chibhodhoro does.
His magical touch shows years of experience and dedication, unlike some conga players who simply hit those drums non-stop at 500 kilometres an hour.
Chibhodhoro has the musical discipline totally nailed and he demonstrates the subtle art of the percussionist through gently controlling the full band’s rhythm. But the Chi- bhodhoro story is for another day.
Back to Tanga: Many people discovered Tanga wekwa Sando at the musical galas that were being held countrywide between 2002 and 2004 after he released the hit single “Wake”. However, very few people know that he has been a musician since the 1970s when he performed with groups such as The Harare Mambo Band, Movement, Aces Wildflower, Baked Beans, Octave and Unity.
Some of the outstanding musicians he performed with include the iconic Clancy Mbirimi, Bothwell Nyamhondera, David Marumahoko, Jethro Shasha, Louis Mhlanga, Chris Chabuka, Sam Banana, Alton Edwards, Barney De Souza, Johnny Papas, Bradshaw Mandishona and Henry Peters .
Ernest Tanga Kambadzo wekwa Sando was born at Harare Hospital on August 1 1954 and he grew up in Harare’s Highfield Township. He began his musical career in the early 1970s by playing the tambourine in the Salvation Army Youth Band together with the late Lennox Chibanda who later became a jazz promoter. He also learned to play the saxophone and trombone while in the Salvation Army Band.
His first professional group was the Harare Mambo Band which was led by Greenford Jangano. Greenford was known for instituting and instilling strict discipline into musicians, of which Sando is today thankful.
The venues they played at included Mushandirapamwe Hotel, Queen’s Hotel, Cannabis and at the Bulawayo Trade Fair, where they fetched prizes for two consecutive years.
In 1977, during the troubled Rhodesia times and at the peak of the war of liberation, Tanga went to Botswana, where he played the trombone for The Gaborone Town Orchestra. After a short stint, he left the orchestra and went to the United States to further his studies at the University of Indiana, and majored in International Economics and Finance.
At Indiana University, he started writing music seriously, and ended up living in a car trailer in the park, to have more time to himself. He recorded music in Bloomington, where he played in a band with five white guys. Being ambitious and adventurous, Sando moved to New York, to try his luck for a music job. He was hired at Tower Record Departmental Store in the Intelligence (Security) Section. There, he met international artistes, such as Janet Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Barry White who would sign autographs upon release of their records. After three years, he left to work for the Frankstock Fund which had funded his studies in the United States.
When Sando returned to Zimbabwe, he immediately embarked on a musical project and formed the band “Giraffe”’ in which he teamed up with Bothwell Nyamhondera and recorded the hits “Mahobho” and “Vakomana Vekwedu”, among others.
When Giraffe disbanded, he went solo as Tanga wekwa Sando, producing spectacular hits such as “Wake”, “Nyenyedzi Yemugovera”, “Bharanzi”, “Shungu”, “WekuMbare”, “PaFio (Highfield)”, and “Wangu Wangu”. The song “WekuMbare” (of Mbare) is dedicated to township jazz artistes; pianist Chris Chabuka, drummer Johnny Papas, guitarist Sam Banana and saxophonist/ bassist Sima- ngaliso Tutani, among others. “WekuMbare” had been popularised before by the late Sam Banana.
In 2004 Sando won the National Arts Merit Award for the best selling musical artiste. Tanga is proud of this recognition.
What makes Tanga wekwa Sando’s music unique is his ability to add feeling to harmony, to convey sadness, joy and finally triumph. It is not easy to pin Sando’s music to one particular genre, although he uses township music as his predominant vehicle for fusion.
Tanga’s music can simply be described as afro-jazz fusion since it is a mixture of township music, marabi, tsaba-tsaba and rock. Tanga is an example of an all-rounder. The musical theme cuts across the social fabric, laden with messages for everyone.
Tanga who had been quiet for a while is currently reviving township music at his Highfield home-ground. He calls it PaFio Outdoor events which is being held under the banner of PaFio Arts and Entertainment Centre. It offers Chisa Nyama barbecues.
Sando, gives a performance at this place every Saturday and also offers entertainment for both music and sports lovers. His move to perform every Saturday at PaFio gives revellers and fledgling talent in the neighbourhood an opportunity to hobnob with some of the country’s finest musicians.
Although not yet as big as Oliver Mtukudzi’s Pakare Paye Arts Centre Tanga wekwa Sando’s PaFio Entertainment Centre is certainly destined for even greater challenges.
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