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Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi

Mtukudzi, wearing a purple suit and flat cap, plays his guitar next to a woman performer shaking a rattle. She has her back turned and is wearing a dress with an abstract pattern of overlaying lines of black, white, orange, and brown.

To create Tuku, Mtukudzi combined several elements of traditional and contemporary African music, among them South Africa’s hard-driving mbaqanga rhythm, jit—a fast percussive Zimbabwean dance beat, the hypnotic mbira (thumb piano) rhythms of Zimbabwe's Shona people, and the traditional kateke drumming of his clan, the Korekore. In addition to creating a unique musical sound, his precisely worded narratives, with their sense of humor about daily life, stood as metaphors for the social and economic issues of his country. Mtukudzi began his musical career in the mid-1970s as a member of the Wagon Wheels, a band that featured Thomas Mapfumo, the other giant of Zimbabwean music. Zimbabwe was then Rhodesia, Ian Smith was in power, and the country was united under Robert Mugabe in a fight for independence. At that time, Mtukudzi earned his popularity by performing political songs that spoke of resistance and national pride.

copyright-James Higgins

NPS / James Higgins

Public domain:Full Granting Rights

Image

Lowell National Historical Park, Code: LOWE

Lowell National Historical Park, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Latitude: 42.6464996337891, Longitude: -71.3309020996094

NPS.gov Collection

07/28/2012

07/28/2012

Public Can View

James Higgins

James Higgins

Wednesday, August 7, 2019 1:12:35 PM

Wednesday, August 7, 2019 1:12:35 PM

Performers_P074.jpg

Canon Canon, Canon EOS 7D

1/80 sec at f / 4

26 mm

ISO 3200

Sunday, July 29, 2012 2:23:55 AM

jpg

2.7 MB

2012-08-10T13:14:15-04:00

Scenic