Mono Mukundu’s All-Time Three Most Influential And...

Mono Mukundu’s All-Time Three Most Influential And Innovative Zimbabwean Drummers

Clive Mono Mukundu

It's one thing to be good at what you do, and it's another to be influential and inspirational. Just playing for a big band is not being influential (yourdictionary.com defines someone influential as one who has an impact on how people act, or how things occur).

On this list I am listing drummers that have influenced how drumming is played in Zimbabwe, contributed some things to the drumming field and influenced others to join in.

Sometime back, I described a great person as someone who has contributed something to a society or to humanity. The guys I am going to make mention of here contributed new original styles to Zimbabwean drumming and inspired other people to take up drumming.

Remember, there is no musician as skillful as a session musician. We usually mistake the most popular as the best and ignore session artists because havana mbiri.

I will do another list of good drummers on another day, especially the new school, but here let me introduce you to my Monosophical list of the three most influenti

1: JETHRO SHASHA:

It would be serious blasphemy to exclude this name from the list. Jethro,whose nickname was "The drum machine" passed away at the age of 46 in 1998. He is the most celebrated drummer in the history of Zimbabwean music. His CV is yet to be matched and it includes such names as Stimela, Salif Keita, Hugh Masekela, Music ye Africa, et al. Jethro inspired such drummers like Sam Mataure & many more that you may know or may not know.

There are international festivals where he would be invited alone. When he passed away, it is said he was mourned more in South Africa than here in Zimbabwe because he left a huge mark on the music scene there.

Every Zimbabwean drummer who is serious must research more on Jethro.

2: SAM MATAURE:

Another very influential name in these circles is Sam Mataure. He is also someone with a colourful CV that includes the likes of Tuku, Hugh Masekela, Thomas Mapfumo, Mirriam Makeba, Andy Brown, Dorothy Masuku and others.More than anything else, Sam is known for performance discipline. He influenced so many drummers that include Bobby Mutyasira and Blessing Muparutsa, among others.

At one time Sam started playing a drum set that had one tom and the majority of drummers, especially the new, made it a culture to remove other toms to imitate him. Drummers would also admire such small things like how he set the drums, how he walked and talked. Now that is influence.

Unfortunately Sam suffered a stroke three years ago but he is on his way to recovery.

3:OBERT GOMBA:

Obert is well known more for his work as Alick Macheso's drummer, but having jammed with him, he is very versatile, very experimental & can fit in any genre. It is at Ochestra Mberikwazvo that Obert rose to prominence. His drum fills were totally different from Sungura drumming that we were all accustomed to. I think he is also the first to use a double pedal kick drum set on Sungura music. Obert single handedly influenced modern Sungura music drumming.

I hope I did not offend anybody with the critique. If I did, I honestly apologise.

Yours truly Mono - God's favorite guitar man signing off.