Thomas Mapfumo Collected: Classic Cuts and Rare Tracks from the Lion of Zimbabwe. (Music).

Nascente CAT: NS087

This is an important album from one of the giants of African music. Thomas Mapfumo, the man known as the Lion of Zimbabwe to his legions of fans overseas, and 'Mukanya' in Zimbabwe as a mark of respect to his totem clan, has been Zimbabwe's most popular entertainer for more than 20 years.

He has made dozens of albums with his band, The Blacks Unlimited, but this one is special for a number of reasons, representing a compilation of songs spanning a couple of decades, most not available outside Zimbabwe before.

Mapfumo has been living in exile in Oregon USA since 1999. He has said that he will not return to live in his beloved Zimbabwe until its safe for his wife and children. Prior to his departure he received threats to their safety. Who would have threatened him? That's unclear, but he has been a thorn in the side of Zimbabwe's government for many years.

His music came to prominence during the struggle for Zimbabwe's independence as a singer covering western pop singers (Elvis Presley was a particular favourite). Then he began to experiment using Zimbabwe's traditional music forms to compose contemporary songs. This was a bold move. "Sometimes, when I sang in Shona, the white people would just walk out or start throwing bottles at me."

But he persevered, and his music became very popular. The people enjoyed the way that he began to use 'deep' Shona (the majority language in Zimbabwe) steeped in metaphor and allegory, to sing in support of their struggle for liberation. He was also transcribing the mesmerising traditional music of Zimbabwe s most sacred and powerful instrument, the mbira, to the electric instruments his band played - reinforcing Zimbabwean's cultural heritage.

Surprisingly, it took Ian Smith's security forces a while to catch on to what he was singing about. When they did, they banned his records and threw him in prison. He endured a 90day stretch and 'intense' interrogation. "I told them I was just a musician but they kept asking me what this song or that song meant," Mapfumo explained. "There was one song in particular that they were suspicious of. It was a call for parents to send their children to war. Of course, it was to encourage our boys going for training then. The people knew what I meant. But it could just as easily have applied to whites letting their children join the Rhodesian army, I wasn't really afraid.

Finally, the authorities realised they were getting nowhere, but decided to use Mapfumo anyway. At gunpoint, they rounded up the rest of his band and took them to play at a political rally for Bishop Abel Muzorewa who Ian Smith was grooming as a pliable black alternative to the liberation movement. But Mapfumo refused to compromise, he simply sang the 'controversial' songs that got him locked up in the first place, much to the fury of his captors.

The Rhodesians didn't stop there. They began using Mapfumo's songs in 'sky shouts' playing the music from helicopters in an attempt to persuade the freedom fighters the war was over. It was, in the words of one commentator, 'singularly unsuccessful'.

POST INDEPENDENCE

When independence finally was won, Mapfumo joined Bob Marley at the celebrations at Rufaro Stadium. He might have expected the fruits of independence to usher in a new era of peace and prosperity for his beloved nation - but despite all the sacrifices, Mapfumo was soon disillusioned. Soon his songs took on a critical note towards Robert Mugabe's government. Mugabe's government took a leaf out of Smith's book, banning songs from the airwaves.

Many songs reflected a common sentiment - criticising the blatant corruption perpetrated by the elite, lamenting for the people suffering deepening poverty, cautioning awareness of the Aids holocaust, despairing over the war in the Congo, and noting how new generations of Zimbabweans were being seduced by western culture away from a proud African heritage.

The dozen tracks on this CD includes one that illustrates the more playful side of Mapfumo's character; Chemutengure, a traditional children's song. He explains: "It's about this guy who drives a donkey cart given to him by a white man he worked for. The children used to tease him singing 'Chemutengure at the wheel of the cart'. And he answers them back 'why do you call me the cart driver? The children reply 'we have seen the grease on your trousers'. The song goes on like this with a lot of funny lines." But in the hands of Mapfumo, even a 'funny children's song' can have mutiple meanings.