Musical Therapy

Moral Satellite Navigator: Cheso Power!
(By Michael Chipato)
Alick Macheso and the Orchestra Mberikwazvo once again made their annual summer commitment to their fans in the UK over the bank holiday weekend. Three shows were lined up in Woking, Leicester and Leeds respectively. Macheso has grown from strength to strength and is enjoying the limelight with the hot sizzling album...Ndezvashe…eh which continues to win the hearts of many with the entertainment-cum-didactic tracks like ‘Varume’ which is topping the Zimbabwean charts at the moment.
Besides trying to instill pride and self-respect among fellow Zimbabweans, Macheso’s music provides the world a mode of perceiving Black aesthetics in a manner that celebrates part of the Zimbabwean musi-cultural identity. The wisdom, philosophy, the poetry and beauty of traditional Zimbabwe are impressively subsumed in the language of his music.
Hundreds from across the UK tracked their star to quench their nostalgia for hot and live zim-home beat! The sungura icon displayed strong Afro-ethos by taking the fans on an undiluted lyrical journey which exhibited the wealth and depth of Zimbabwean musical philosophy…To Teach and to Entertain. Messages of encouragement through idiom and linguistic prowess are the brand of his music ‘Usavhundusirwe ne zizi k uti rine nyanga, hadzisi nyanga, inze ve!’(Don’t be intimidated by the owl, it has no horns, those are just ears). The musical journey sent the fans into an endless musical frenzy as both appreciation of artistic talent and nostalgia gripped his fans.
Taking the fans through the near anthemed status song Madhawu to the steaming hot Maduve wangu and Varume, Macheso reinforced the role of the artist as the moral satellite navigator. ‘ Macheso resembles a fountain of our philosophy as Zimbabweans, he manages to reach out to all in simplicity of language yet conveying pregnant thought shrouded in rich idiom and unbeaten truth transcending spatio-temporal limitations’.
Macheso has become a regular star shining on the UK-Zimbabwe- Australia and other international platforms. Earlier on this year Macheso toured Australia from where he has coined another dance move- Kangaroo dance. The athletic artist has become popular over the years and gets better with age like wine.
Meanwhile, Macheso is planning his first ever USA tour soon.

Report and Analysis by: Michael Chipato
(Social Scientist and Commentator)