It’s been a while when we last wrote on this space. But we back and we here to give you indepth analysis of our local artists. Today we feature the Four Brothers, a group that was fronted by In fact, the Makombe Brothers led by James Nyamande should have been the tree that got its life from the manure provided by the death of the Four Brothers but that did not work and the once mighty foursome’s legacy is to remain a legacy with no heir to perpetuate it. Seeking a permanent group, the three - Marshall Ticharwa Munhumumwe, Alex Phiri Chipaika and Never Mutare - co-founders of what later came to be known as the Four Brothers met by chance just when the Great Sounds was dying. First to appear on the scene was Chipaika who came to join the Great Sounds after the departure of John Chibhodhoro Muyambo, who went to join the late Safirio Mukadota Madzikatires group around 1978. Phiri had met the Great Sounds in Highfield at Mutanga Night Club while Munhumumwe and Mutare hitched on the dying group in Chitungwiza where they played at the Chikwanha Hotel. These were the people who renegotiated for the renewal of the Great Sounds contract with Chikwanha Hotel management after Bandas departure. Although they were awarded the contract, the trio could not continue using the name Great Sounds that had been formed some 10 years earlier by Elias Banda, Daram Karanga, Grant Ndowa, Moses Kabubi, Pius Makokoba and Elias Chimwara. Banda and Karanga had just left the Thomas Mapfumo-led Springfields in which they had belonged together with the nomadic stars - Madzikatire and Susan Chenjerai. Munhumumwe had had stints with groups such as the Black Jack before teaming up with Thomas Mapfumo, the late Jonah Sithole and Leonard Chiyangwa in Mutare to form the Blacks Unlimited that disbanded after Jonahs departure for Harare where he founded The Storm. The other three members also headed for Harare where Mapfumo joined the Pied Pipers at Mushandirapamwe Hotel and Chiyangwa went to join the Acid Band, a group that was playing at Mutanga across the road in Highfield. Later, Mapfumo would join Chiyangwa at Mutanga and with time lead the Acid Band with which he released his earlier songs before reviving the Blacks Unlimited after Sitholes return to the fold. Munhumumwe went out of town to join the Domboshava-based Mawonera Superstars that was owned by Mawonera Hotel and was led by the late Tineyi Chikupo in 1976. While there, the group released the single, Kapfumo Kandibaya. A year later, Munhumumwe was on the move again, this time back to Harare where he joined the Great Sounds before its demise. Since they were three - Munhumumwe (drums), Alec (guitar) and Never (bass guitar) - they had to recruit a fourth member who was Frank Sibanda, the only surviving original founder of the Four Brothers today. The Brothers who were formed in 1977 Marshall Munhumumwe former drummer, lead singer and songwriter learnt his craft from his nephew Thomas Mapfumo, another well-known Zimbabwean musician and subsequently played in Thomass group. Also in that group was Never Mutare (bass player). The two of them left Thomas Mapfumo’s band to back The Great Sounds, and later broke away to form their own band - The Four Brothers. This was the time of Ian Smiths Rhodesian government and his Unilateral Declaration of Independence from Britain. The political context is significant, at that time bands were not allowed to play traditional music on pain of arrest. Consequently, like others at the time, the Four Brothers made their way playing copyrights, rock and roll numbers and covers of Beatles songs. If they played traditional songs it was in a rock n roll style but with a hidden message. Due to the Chimurenga, the War of Independence in Zimbabwe, they could only play the larger towns and cities and did not venture into the more rural villages. After the Chimurenga traditional music again became acceptable and popular in Zimbabwe and the Four Brothers began to establish themselves. The main root of their sound clearly laid in this traditional Zimbabwean music, the rhythm guitar mimics the sound of the Mbira, the thumb piano, whilst the other instruments improvise around it. There first big hit came in 1980 the year of Independence in Zimbabwe, Marshall Munhumumwe wrote Makorokoto, which means celebration in Shona, this caught the mood of the times and sold more than 100,000 copies - a lot in Zimbabwean terms. There then followed a string of hits in Zimbabwe following the path of others like the Bhundu Boys, The Four Brothers started touring overseas. With a string of best selling albums and hit singles including Makorokoto, released in 1992 on Cooking Vinyl, the Four Brothers were one of Zimbabwes most successful bands and were now familiar to audiences overseas through exposure on the radio and several tours. Marshall Munhumumwe had been many things in the band: drummer, vocalist, song writer, and spokesperson for the group, many will remember his description of himself as the man at the back. Just as arrangements for the 1997 tour were under way misfortune struck: Marshall was involved in a car accident in Zimbabwe. Though he apparently survived the accident without ill effects he started to get severe headaches and eventually suffered from a massive stroke. He could neither play drums nor sing and, much to everyones regret Marshall was unable to make the tour. Marshalls accident had a significant impact on the band. In earlier days in Zimbabwe Marshall would concentrate on lead vocals with Albert Ruwizhi, Marshalls long time understudy and backing vocalist, taking over on the drums. Following Marshalls accident Albert took over drums and lead vocals for the 1997 tour, which was a great success. How were the Brothers to develop without Marshall? Other members had to take on unfamiliar roles and responsibilities, Never Mutare (bass) has become the bands spokesperson. On their 1997 tour, the Four Brothers performed only songs written by Marshall. During their 1998 tour they continued to play Marshalls hits such as Makorokoto, but they also introduced new songs. Manga Manga is a collection of those new songs The music remains based in Zimbabwean tradition but had also moved on. The lyrics continue to tell stories of life in Zimbabwe retaining a measure of social comment and moralising and, as many audiences will testify, it was equally great music to dance to! It shows that despite the sad loss of Marshall Munhumumwe the band was determined to continue developing and entertain audiences both at home and overseas. The Four Brothers toured Ireland for the first time in 1999 when they played at the Sligo Arts Festival, sadly this was the last time that Albert Ruwizhi (drummer + lead vocals) toured with the Four Brothers, he died 6 weeks after the tour had finished and played his last ever gig at Kiltimagh in County Mayo. In 1999 The Four Brothers were invited to play at DJ John Peels 60th birthday party at Peel Acres in Suffolk, they had previously played at Johns 50th birthday party 10 years before. The following year The Four Brothers returned with a new drummer (Levson), a young new vocalist, Antonio Makhosa and Alec Chipaika returned on keyboards & vocals. The Four brothers were now six and back on the road. As usual we toured the Four Brothers around much of Europe and once again toured Ireland. Later that year we brought the Four Brothers back to Europe to play at Hogmanay in Edinburgh for the Millennium celebrations. In mid 2001 and just before the band was due to tour Europe Robium Chauraya (second guitar) died and subsequently the tour was cancelled. Sadly later in 2001 Marshall Munhumumwe died at 49 years of age and the following year bass player Never Mutare died. Of the original band who recorded Manga Manga in 98 and toured Ireland in 1999 only Frank Sibanda remains alive. We thank you…
Posted on: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 11:23:47 +0000
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