I’m always impressed by the level of support for world music in Austin. It was a packed room at Flamingo Cantina when African legend Oliver Mtukudzi took the stage on Sunday night. “We are here to take you to Zimbabwe!” the singer declared at the beginning of his set. The crowd was predominantly white, but a strong contingent of African ex-pats flanked the stage waving a Zimbabwean flag. They all roared enthusiastically.

Fronting an eight-piece ensemble, Mtukudzi’s music swayed with cascading arpeggiated patterns passed off between the guitar, marimba and mbira, the traditional Zimbabwean “thumb piano.” Meanwhile polyrhythms created through the interplay of congas, hand percussion and a full drum kit kept an irresistibly danceable groove throughout. Mtukudzi sang primarily in the Zimbabwean Shona language and his plaintive voice rose and fell cracking occasionally with world-weary grit, only to be folded into the complex blanket of multilayered harmony from his backing ensemble.

But it was the expression of sheer joy on 55-year-old Mtukudzi’s face as he lifted his voice in song that made the deepest impression. He playfully engaged his ensemble initiating dance moves that the whole group picked up and at one point moving through a highly entertaining dance skit with his conga player. The group played for a good two hours with a brief intermission in the middle. The moment Mtukudzi stepped off the stage at the end of the night a cry went through the crowd “Tuku! Tuku! Tuku!” forcing the world music hero to return for one last song.

By: Deborah Sengupta