Citizendia
Your Ad Here

The Four Brothers are perhaps the most internationally successful and recognised group to come from Zimbabwe. See also Great Zimbabwe National Monument. For information about the March and June 2008 presidential elections see Zimbabwean presidential election The members are not literally brothers and at times there have been more than four. They play fast-paced guitar-based pop music with songs sung in the Shona language. Shona (or chiShona is a Bantu language, native to the Shona people of Zimbabwe and southern Zambia; the term is also used to identify peoples Their lead guitar string-plucking sound is reminiscent of the sound of the African mbira instrument and is a style known as 'jit'. See also Thumb piano In Zimbabwean music, the mbira is a Musical instrument consisting of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys For other uses see JIT. Jit (also known as jiti, jit-jive and the Harare beat) is a style of popular

Founded in Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) in 1977 by Marshall Munhumumwe and Never Mutare with Edward Zulu and Aleck Chipaika, the band gained international recognition in the late 1980’s with UK BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel being their most well known advocate. Rhodesia was the name adopted when the formerly British colony of Southern Rhodesia declared itself independent ( Unilateral Declaration of Independence John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004 known professionally as John Peel, was an English Disc jockey, radio

Marshall Munhumumwe was the nephew of Zimbabwean star Thomas Mapfumo. Thomas Tafirenyika Mapfumo (born 1945 is a Zimbabwean musician known as "The Lion of Zimbabwe" and "Mukanya" for his immense popularity and for the political

At the time the Four Brothers formed bands in Rhodesia were not allowed to play traditional African music. The Four Brothers therefore played rock and roll cover versions of well-known artists such as the Beatles. The Beatles were a pop and rock band from Liverpool, England formed in 1960 They took up a residency position at the Saratoga bar in Salisbury (now Harare). Harare (həˈrɑreɪ or /həˈrɑri/ formerly Salisbury) is the Capital of Zimbabwe.

After the ‘Chimurenga’, the War of Independence in Zimbabwe, it became possible to again play traditional music. The band’s format and instruments are clearly influenced by western rock and roll but the sound is evidently originating from Africa. The lead guitar is played in such a way as to sound like mbira. See also Thumb piano In Zimbabwean music, the mbira is a Musical instrument consisting of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys

Marshall Munhumumwe wrote most of the band’s songs and music as well as unusually being both the lead singer and drummer. Their first big hit in Zimbabwe, ‘Makorokoto’, celebrated Zimbabwean independence. Makorokoto means ‘celebration’ in the Shona language.

After signing a deal with British record label Cooking Vinyl the band toured the UK and Canada. This apparently brought the band a greater degree of musical freedom enabling them to buy new instruments and to record more.

BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel championed The Four Brothers in the UK. A disc jockey (also known as DJ or deejay) is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004 known professionally as John Peel, was an English Disc jockey, radio They recorded four radio sessions for his show between 1988 and 2000. The band played at Peel's surprise 50th birthday party at his home and he selected 'Pasi Pano Pane Zviedzo' as one of his favourite records of all time on the radio show Desert Island Discs in 1990. Desert Island Discs is a long-running BBC Radio 4 programme It was first broadcast on 29 January 1942 and is said by the Guinness Peel is often quoted as describing the Four Brothers as ". . the best live band in the world".

In 1997 founder member Marshall Munhumumwe suffered a stroke, following a car crash. He was unable to continue to perform with the band and was replaced by Albert Ruwizhi. Munhumumwe died in 2001.

The current status of the band is not known.

Discography and band members:

Makorokoto (compilation LP 1988) [COOKCD014]:

Marshall Munhumumwe - Drums and lead vocals Never Mutare – Bass and vocals Aleck Chipaika – Rhythm guitar and vocals Edward Matiyasi – Lead guitar and vocals

Makorokoto was released on the UK on the Cooking Vinyl record label and uses songs licensed from Serengeti Records. It was a CD & LP release. The CD contains all 16 tracks while the LP version contains only 10 tracks. When the LP ‘Bros’ was released the following year the tracks that did not appear on the Makorokoto LP were included as a free six track EP.

Bros (LP & CD 1989) [COOK023] Frank Sibanda replaced Edward Matiyasi – Lead guitar and vocals

Uchandifunga 12 inch single (Recorded at Shed Studios, Harare, Zimbabwe) [FRY005/T]

Mukadzi Wepiri (1990) [Gramma /Kumusha Records KSALP 129]

Manga Manga (1998, PCP Records, London, PCPCD02)

Never Mutare – bass guitar and backing vocals Frank Sibanda – lead and acoustic guitar and backing vocals Albert Ruwizhi –drums and lead vocals Robium Chauraya – rhythm guitar and backing vocals (Aleck Chipaika played keyboards at around this time but does not appear on the CD)


The recordings of The Four Brothers appear on many compilation albums. 'Pasi Pano Pane Zviedzo' appears on the 2006 compilation in tribute to John Peel 'Right Time, Wrong Speed'

References

External links

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic