Malunga brings back old hits

By Vongai Mbara

Veteran musician Clive Malunga has released renditions of his old songs among them “Nesango” and “Jenaguru” infusing traditional musical elements to the sound. Released in a five track compilation titled “Chikende Antediluvian”, Malunga rerecorded some of his popular songs, this time only using traditional instruments like mbira, marimba and hosho.

Speaking in an interview, Malunga said he decided to redo his old music with a traditional sound to add a different rhythm.

“I just took the concept of guitars and put it to mbira and marimba. I always felt like guitar instruments were not my true sound and it bothered me a lot.

“Although some loved it, others would come to me and say that I had the best videos but they could not dance to the music. I took that constructive criticism and decided to bring this traditional rendition that is full of rhythm,” he said.

The compilation has songs “Nesango”, “Zimbabwe”, “Rudhiya”, “Marujata” and “Jenaguru”.

Malunga said he searched for the best instrumentalists for the project and promised to release more traditional music in the future.

“For this project I hunted for the best traditional instrumentalists in the country and when we recorded the first song, the sound was incredible.

“We recorded 14 songs in total but decided to release five only because I wanted to see the response first. I will be releasing more soon,” said Malunga.

He added that he received a lot of praise when he released the compilation in China and Japan a few weeks ago.

“I released the compilation in China and Japan and the response has been overwhelming.

“They do not understand the language but they accepted it. I am yet to see the response in Zimbabwe but I hope they like it as well.”  The Herald