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Oliver Mtukudzi

Mtukudzi began performing in 1977 when he joined the Wagon Wheels, a band that also featured Thomas Mapfumo. Their single Dzandimomotera went gold and Tuku's first album followed, which was also a major success. Mtukudzi is also a contributor to Mahube, Southern Africa's "supergroup".

With his husky voice, Mtukudzi has become the most recognised voice to emerge from Zimbabwe and onto the international scene and he has earned a devoted following across Africa and beyond. A member of Zimbabwe's KoreKore group, with Nzou Samanyanga as his totem, he sings in the nation's dominant Shona language along with Ndebele and English. He also incorporates elements of different musical traditions, giving his music a distinctive style, known to fans as Tuku Music. Mtukudzi has had a number of tours around the world. He has been on several tours in the UK, US and Canada to perform for large audiences. In 2017 Mtukudzi entertained guests at the wedding of Zimbabwean businessman Wicknell Chivayo.

Mtukudzi is the father of five children and has two grandchildren. Two of his children are also musicians. His son Sam Mtukudzi, a successful musician in his own right, died in a car accident in March 2010. Tuku died on 23 January 2019. Mtukudzi was born in a family of six; one of his sisters and his only brother died.

Albums

1978 Ndipeiwo Zano (re-released 2000)

1979 Chokwadi Chichabuda

1979 Muroi Ndiani?

1980 Africa (re-released 2000)

1981 Shanje

1981 Pfambi

1982 Maungira

1982 Please Ndapota

1983 Nzara

1983 Oliver's Greatest Hits

1984 Hwema Handirase

1985 Mhaka

1986 Gona

1986 Zvauya Sei?

1987 Wawona

1988 Nyanga Nyanga

1988 Strange, Isn't It?'

1988 Sugar Pie

1989 Grandpa Story

1990 Chikonzi

1990 Pss Pss Hallo!

1990 Shoko

1991 Mutorwa

1992 Rombe

1992 Rumbidzai Jehova

1992 Neria Soundtrack'

1993 Son of Africa

1994 Ziwere MuKobenhavn

1995 Was My Child

1996 Svovi yangu

1995 The Other Side: Live in Switzerland

1995 Ivai Navo

1997 Ndega Zvangu (re-released 2001)

1997 Chinhamwe

1998 Dzangu Dziye

1999 Tuku Music

2000 Paivepo

2001 Neria

2001 Bvuma (Tolerance)

2002 Shanda soundtrack

2002 Vhunze Moto

2003 Shanda (Alula Records)

2003 Tsivo (Revenge)

2004 Greatest Hits Tuku Years

2004 Mtukudzi Collection 1991–1997

2004 Mtukudzi Collection 1984–1991

2005 Nhava(Tolerance)

2006 Wonai

2007 Tsimba Itsoka

2008 Dairai (Believe)

2010 Rudaviro

2010 Kutsi Kwemoyo (compilation)

2011 Rudaviro

2011 Abi'angu (Duets of my time)

2012 Sarawoga — Sarawoga laments the losses that the legend has had to endure in his life, not least the loss of life. Thus he has been left 'alone' in a sense, hence the title Sarawoga (left alone).

2014 Mukombe Wemvura

2016 God Bless You - The Gospel Collection

2016 Eheka Nhai Yahwe!

Oliver Mtukudzi at Yoshi's San Francisco

by Harry S. Pariser
August 9, 2013

Oliver Mtukudzi & the Black SpiritsYoshi's Jazz Club San FranciscoJuly 21, 2013“Where we come from," the guitarist Oliver Mtukudzi tells the audience at Yoshi's in San Francisco, “music is like food. You can have it for breakfast, lunch and supper. Where we come from, you don't have to sing a song when you have nothing to say." He might well have added “Where we come from, music is a good time groove, but it also ...

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Album Review

Oliver Mtukudzi: Tsimba Itsoka

Read "Tsimba Itsoka" reviewed by Woodrow Wilkins

by Woodrow Wilkins
November 8, 2007

For better or worse, everyone leaves a mark on the world. That's the underlying theme of Oliver Mtukudzi's Tsimba Itsoka, which means “No foot, no footprint. Though only his second release since joining the Heads Up family in 2005, it's far from being a new thing for the Zimbabwe native. Nicknamed “Tuku by his fans, Mtukudzi has been a force for political and social change through music for more than thirty years. His early career included some ...

213

Album Review

Oliver Mtukudzi: Nhava

by AAJ Staff
May 21, 2005

It's been thirty years since Oliver “Tuku Mtukudzi released his debut single, and in that time the Zimbabwean superstar has managed to cement a very distinctive sound. Together with his Black Spirits band, Tuku has developed a fusion of traditional Shona music with other southern African idioms, colored by faint blues and country overtones, that somehow always seems uplifting, no matter how serious a message it may embody. Open ears around the world have caught on to his accessible sound, ...

167

Album Review

Oliver Mtukudzi: Nhava

Read "Nhava" reviewed by Woodrow Wilkins

by Woodrow Wilkins
May 15, 2005

The Heads Up Africa series has featured such artists as Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo, there's nothing not to like about this music emerging from Southern Africa. This hit parade continues with Zimbabwean guitarist/vocalist Oliver Mtukudzi's Nhava. The album ("carrying bag in Shona) is a collection of advice, encouragement, and wisdom for travelers on a journey of life as they make their way through an often perilous world. “Every song on the album has something ...

345

African Jazz

Oliver Mtukudzi: Shanda

by AAJ Staff
August 1, 2004

He made the cover of Time magazine in March of 2003, and he's attracted a lot of listeners outside the following in his home country, but it's an unfortunate fact that most people haven't ever heard of Oliver Mtukudzi.

When John and Louise Riber decided to make a movie about the Zimbabwean pop star, they came upon the idea of a music video with a running documentary, and that's what ended up as Shanda. The key word there ...