Rock me Oliver. I am a dancing machine just ask Marcilio and hundreds of music fans at the Bassline tonight/last night.

I found out last night that I prefer dancing in beer to Coke although I don’t drink or support either. At least beer is not as sticky when people are spilling it on the floor and thus doesn’t inhibit your feet from moving like Coke. Then again people don’t get drunk and act out of control and stupid by drinking Coke. So besides the sticky floors and inebriated people around me it was a great time tonight/last night.

For sure many if not most of the audience was from Zimbabwe as many knew the words to the songs, singing along and dancing with pride for music from their fellow countrymen. It was mainly a black crowd, more than the other concert I saw there three months back, but there were a few white, colored, Indian, etc. faces in the crowd as well. Like most things around here it started late, by about 20 minutes, starting at 9:20 and going to midnight with a 20 minute intermission. It is sometimes fun to have an opening act but in this case it was great to just have Oliver Mtukudzi and the Black Spirits. The band consisted of a drummer with a drum set, a keyboardist, bassist/bass player, guitarist, two female vocalists/dancers, one male vocalist/dancer and Oliver, guitarist, singer, songwriter, dancer and creative powerhouse. I must admit most of my favorite lead singers don’t just sing but they also play an instrument and when possible dance. I love multitalented musicians who can do a bit of each and really know how to entertain just like Oliver and his crew did last night or is it tonight still?

Oliver has released over 44 albums since his career began in the late 70’s of which I only have three but still I knew over half the songs last night and was pleasantly surprised by those I didn’t know. I didn’t say much about the sound, style and inspiration behind Oliver’s music in my entry on Wednesday so here is a paragraph I found at World Press.org which talks about this.

“Mtukudzi’s style, known as Tuku music, is a unique combination of several elements: South Africa’s hard-driving mbaqanga rhythm, jit—a fast percussive Zimbabwean dance beat—and the gentler, repetitive mbira rhythms of Zimbabwe's Shona people. In addition to creating a unique musical sound, he has won praise for his power as a lyricist. His precisely worded narratives, with their sense of humor about daily life, stand as metaphors for the social and economic ills that bedevil his country.”

I hope to get to see another concert or two in my time here before I head off to Mozambique to see old friends and to Kenya to make new ones plus see some from SIT or Principia plus those others who I have been communicating with via email. Once again it was great to be here and see a concert surrounding by many talented people who being dancing and singing at such a young age and to whom this all comes so naturally.