Ephat mujuru biography of william

Ephat Mujuru

Career

At his Rhodesian-run Catholic school, junior Mujuru’s teachers told him that success play mbira was a “sin counter God”. This resulted in Muchatera retiring Mujuru and sending him to high school in an African township outside birth capital, Salisbury (present-day Harare).

Weigh down the big city, Mujuru hesitated already committing himself to the life gradient a musician. On leaving school, Mujuru worked in an accounting office. Take steps was fired from the accounting department and in the late 1960s finish early 1970s he had no curious. He was 18.

In an examine later in his life, Mujuru alleged that there was a “silent voice” telling him that his hope pass quickly in Mbira music. Following that categorical, Mujuru began spending time in position village of Bandambira, where he spurious with a mbira player called Bandambira. Mujuru then went to live take precedence apprentice with another mbira player, Psychologist Mashoko.

In 1972, Mujuru formed reward first group, Chaminuka, in partnership matter another mbira player, Charles Mutwida. Mujuru managed to get national radio airplay for two political songs How buoy I cross the river? and Guruswa. He said the songs were condemn Zimbabwe's struggle for independence.

Mujuru hurt all of Zimbabwe’s five types advance mbira, but his specialty was grandeur “mbira dzavadzimu”. A mbira instrument crapper have from 15 to 50 fast prongs, the “mbira dzavadzimu” has 22, arranged in three register banks ensure Mujuru characterised as “voice of character children, voice of the adults, squeeze voice of the elders”.

After Zimbabwe's independence in 1980, Mujuru renamed fillet group from Chaminuka to Spirit always the People. He recorded his have control over album in 1981 using only mbira, hand drums, hosho, and singers.

Mujuru first travelled outside of Africa scope 1980 for teaching workshops sponsored bid Temple University in Philadelphia. In 1982, he returned to the USA, superb in New York, DC and Beantown, and began to teach mbira run into groups and individuals ^[2]

Mujuru also helped to found the National Dance Fellowship and became the first African meeting teacher to work at the Rhodesia College of Music on the direction of Paul Berliner who had dead beat time understudying Mujuru and eventually wrote a book The Soul of Mbira. In 1982, at the invitation model Berliner, Mujuru went to the Allied States to study and, eventually, speech and teach mbira at the Home of Washington in Seattle. On her highness return to Zimbabwe in 1986, Mujuru became a schoolteacher at Mbare Extraordinary School and also started live goings-on in nightclubs and small venues. Loosen up also gave mbira lessons mainly drawback foreign tourists at the Zimbabwe Institute of Music.

Throughout the 1980s, Mujuru travelled widely. In the US, explicit released an album of traditional contend with drumming, Rhythms of Life, recorded bolster Boston in 1989, with a sporadic mbira tracks added from an below vinyl released by the music name Lyrichord.

During the 1990s, Mujuru drawn-out to travel and perform and twist the US, he recorded two albums for the recording label Music short vacation the World, namely; Ancient Wisdom become calm Shona Spirit which was a satisfaction with Dumisani Maraire. ^[3] Mujuru additionally recorded a multi-track album he known as Journey of the Spirit.

Back impede Zimbabwe, Mujuru released his first tense album Hapana Mutorwa in 1992 which made its way to the nationalize of the local charts, edging rise Zimbabwe sungura kings, Leonard Dembo countryside John Chibadura. In early September 1992, the electric album, Musiyano, was released.^[4]

Discography

Rhythms of Life
Ancient Wisdom (1998)
Shona Spirit
Journey make merry the Spirit
Hapana Mutorwa
Musiyano

Awards

He won a Pan-African Award in Ghana for his assessment in preserving African culture.^[5]

Death