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CD Review
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Star Tribune, CD Review >>
"Nhava" is a Zimbabwean word for carrying a bag. In his satchel, Oliver Mtukudzi has gathered nuggets of advice about humble living and personal and social responsibility in songs that are light in tone, heavy with meaning and, unfortunately, somewhat repetitious.
Mtukudzi has long been a staple of the Zimbabwean music scene and fathered his own genre, "Tuku Music," that blends South African and Zimbabwean styles. Bonnie Raitt covered Mtukudzi's "Hear Me Lord," generating his broadest American exposure.
On "Nhava," the band is groove-tight. Circular guitar riffs, sing-song melodies and sparse background vocals give the album an airiness, even when discussing heavy topics like scratching out an existence as a migrant laborer, or a child pleading with an alcoholic father.
Between the dramatic crescendos and storyteller's delivery in his singing, Mtukudzi almost seems to make fun of his rough-hewn tenor by using a sound that mimics clearing his throat as a percussive musical accent. His style is reminiscent of the Afro Pop sound Paul Simon made famous on his "Graceland" album. But it's carried across a few too many tracks and gives the album an unwelcome sameness.
-Aimee Maude Sims 05/20/05 >> go there
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