NORTON – African traditional acoustic rhythms are blasting across Europe where Tuku has embarked on a month-long tour sharing the stage with Habib Koite and Afel Bocoum.

The overseas promoters have invited acoustics-only performers of traditional musical instruments on the Acoustic Africa Tour of Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Finland and The Netherlands over the next month.

Tuku is featuring a three-piece acoustic outfit from his Black Spirits Band - Phillip “Soko” Tsikirai on mbira, hosho and vocals, Sam Mataure on traditional drums and himself on the acoustic guitar and lead vocals.

	Sam Mataure on drums on the Acoustic Africa Tour
Tuku on acoustic guitar with Soko on the mbira on the Acoustic Africa Tour

Zimbabwean traditional sound has always underpinned Tuku’s music which is influenced largely by his native korekore’s katekwe rhythms and dance patterns that dominate traditional music styles in his rural home in the northern remote districts of this southern African country.

But it was five years ago when Tuku decided to further enhance his traditional sound and introduced the traditional instruments, proper, including the marimba, mbira and hosho while his acoustic guitar remained the rhythmic driving force.

Tuku then released the album, Dairai in 2008, featuring for the first time the traditional instruments.

The inclusion of the traditional instruments and the enhanced sound thereafter gave Tuku’s music a completely refreshing outlook both on stage and on recorded music.

The audiences generally received the inclusion of the instruments with much pleasure but others were a bit a skeptical and took their time to adjust to the new set-up when Tuku replaced the lead guitar and keyboard with the marimba and mbira.

“All my music has been influenced by traditional sound but with the inclusion of the traditional instruments it’s no longer just the influence but the use of the instruments. My use of the instruments is an endorsement of our traditional instruments and the pride and faith that I have in our heritage of traditional music,” Tuku said.

The Acoustic Africa Tour organizers said they had worked on a basis of Tuku, Habib and Afel each accompanied by only two musicians.

“The idea is to invite each artist and to complement his own team of two artists,” said Michel De Bock, from the tour organizers.

Tuku, Habib and Afel are normally supported each by between five and six musicians. But because the tour organizers wanted to create a whole new acoustic musical concept, rather than each artist having to reproduce his own music as usual with his full band, they reduced the number of musicians to strictly the acoustic players.

Tuku’s performances nowadays are a mix of himself and the full Black Spirits Band, sometimes solo, trio or a quartet depending on the requirements of the promoter.

Tuku is back on the local scene only on Friday 19 th November, solo, at Jazz 105 in Harare.

Visit the Calendar link on this website for dates and venues of Tuku’s November shows. – Shepherd Mutamba / tukumusik.com