Scottish inner circle mourns Bhundu Boys founder Rise Kagona

In an emotional ceremony in Scotland, a funeral service was held for Bhundu Boys founder and musician Rise Kagona who died in mid-September. He will be buried in Zimbabwe on Saturday after his body arrives at Harare International Airport on Friday at 11am.

One of his children, Clever, wrote from Zimbabwe on behalf of Sandra and Christian (also a musician): “The death of our father came as a shock to us as his children. We always thought we would see our dad again. ‘Soon,’ as he always said.

“It was not to be. Our dad was a very loving man to us and also to the people around him. Growing up Dad taught us how to share as he also took care of the extended family.”

“He taught us love and responsibility, traits we are now using in our own families, kindness, humility. When we heard of dad’s passing we were heartbroken and we did not know how to navigate the days ahead.

“Let me thank Doug Veitch and Andy Cook for running around and the Go fund Me. Words alone cannot reveal the gratitude we feel. Dad always wanted to be buried in Zimbabwe. Thanks for granting his wish.

“We would also want to thanks fans and friends of our father. You lifted a major burden from our shoulders.”

An emotional lady called Joyce said: “I am Rise’s friend and sister. Rise’s death has taken us by surprise. It will be very difficult for the family moreso his family in Zimbabwe. Most of us have known rise for a long time.

“Being a Malawian Rise was a part of me. His memory as a musician will stay with us for a long time. I want to thank Andy for all you have done especially as the one who discovered him.” The raw emotions were evident. 

Patrick spoke on behalf of the Zimbabwean community and said: “Zimbabwe, Malawi and Scotland are mourning and also the nations he travelled. We have lost a great man. We presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022.

“He said Zimbabwe had not recognised him in the same way. He said his life was to bring happiness and joy in a song. I hope we will be able to jit-jive at his funeral. We were working on a documentary of his life.”

The only surviving founder member is now drummer Kenny Chitsvatsva. He drove to Scotland from London. Washington Kavhai, another ‘on and off,’ member (was originally the bassist before the band got successful) but left to join Thomas Mapfumo, before returning in the 1990s to replace David Mankaba, who died in 1991.

Kudaushe Henry Matimba, another replacement, was also present having joined the band in the mid-1990s.

Bhundu Boys may have folded eventually after their storied career with both fortune and mis-fortune but for Kagona the music simply never died. He later formed a lower key live band with Champion Doug Veitch. Andy Cook later joined.

Replacing fallen Bhundu Boys proved impossible as Kagona lost an entire rhythm section. But he found a closer inner circle which mourned more than just a musician. Kagona was a valuable mentor and beloved friend said Andy Cook.

Cooke described his band leader and musical influence in almost similar terms. He said: “It’s really hard when someone you are so close to has died. I came to know Rise in 2007 when he needed a new percussionist.

“He invited me to audition and I got the job. I played in near all of his Scotland gigs since. He stayed with my family for 3 years with my young daughter and taught my son to be a musician.”

“We were privileged to play music with him. I knew at the rehearsal he was a big star because I had seen him play at Womad. He just presented himself as he was. Very down to earth. Very funny. Thought provoking.

“I realised just how amazing he was. We spent hours and hours in the rehearsal room with him. We ended up calling him our headmaster cause some band members were teachers. Every single rehearsal he was so focused.”

“He composed all of his songs, the guitar lines, drum patterns, bass, rhythm guitar, my xylophone and refined them over months and years try to perfect them and change them. He gave us the basic part or the skeleton.

“You would then learn how to manoeuvre in the Jiti style. To play as if it was yours or to wear the music. I am so grateful for Kenny, Kuda and Washington for driving through the night to be here.”

“He was always happier to perform and teach us the new songs. He was always composing. Sometimes we rehearsed for years, until they were perfect for the stage. There were one or two that we never performed.”

“He only did one copyright “Ring of Fire” from Johnny Cash for an advert. The song got banned. And Rise would call Johnny about the song.”

“He believed a performer’s reputation would spread. That’s exactly what happened with Bhundu Boys in Zim and in UK. He didn’t want to do any other job. He was just a true artist.”

“He was a very wise and observant person who would get ideas from studying human nature. He spent so much time over here where he composed some songs in English. One of the songs was ‘Munhu Munhu” or a “Person is a person.”

“He would say music and dance wouldn’t know color or race.”

“He was a legend. As a school boy he had the same drive and focus. He just decided to learn guitar. Webster made him a 3 string guitar and he spied and figured how hands were moving and chords to learn the songs.

Related Articles

Bhundu Boys founder Rise Kagona to be buried in Zimbabwe…

Oct 10, 2024 35,109

OBITUARY: Bhundu Boys founder Rise Kagona: Leader, Genius,…

Sep 21, 2024 18,099

Rise Kagona: One of last surviving members and founder of…

Sep 18, 2024 46,072

How Bundu Boys set tone for European tours

Apr 18, 2021 28,586 Prev Next 1 of 7

“When Zimbabwe allowed African music after independence he had the incredible imagination to put the Jiti style into music. He convereted ‘Red red rose’ a poem by Robert Burns into a song and 2 weeks before he died we were performing the song.

“We would talk for hours and it was so entertaining to be with him and the love he showed me and my family.”

Raqel (Andy’s wife) described him as a friend and an inspiration. She said he was “our sadza cook” and was so patient with children teaching them to whistle, to eat sadza, a lot of laughter and more. She said he was their best man at their wedding.

“They rehearsed with Andy in the living room. She said he was very happy at their last gig. She sang the words in shona: “Ndoita sei? Ndoita sei? Ndoita sei pasi rino ndoita sei?” She translated it ‘what can I do?’ she was grateful for all the joy he brought and the music.

Andy’s description was a window into the work of Bhundu Boys. The group was clearly blessed with musicality.

The Independent’s description of Kangwena in his obituary. 31 years ago, wrote: “The Bhundus played a style of dance music called jit jive, based on a mixture of traditional Shona m’bira – thumb-piano – melodies, Congolese rumba and Western rock and pop.

“Apart from the cantering rhythm and catchy falsetto guitars, the harmony voice parts were a key element in the music’s attraction when the Bhundu Boys eventually broke through to an international audience, and harmony, and arrangement in general, was Kangwena’s speciality.

“Indeed, more than any other group member, he was the musical architect of the Bhundus’ sound, which he also contributed to on guitar, keyboards and vocals.

“One of the group’s most requested numbers during their early British success, ‘Manhenga’, was composed by Kangwena and another of his songs, unusually a slow ballad, ‘My Foolish Heart’, based on a Hugh MacDiarmid poem discovered on the wall of their Scottish manager’s office, is the favourite of their most recent work.”

The Independent essentially described Kangwena as the band’s musical director.

Kagona’s compositions became increasingly militant. A return to Zimbabwe could have revived his career surely. But he had become far too conscious in his lyrics for the comfort of Robert Mugabe and his government with lyrics like “Ndoita sei” and “Tanzwa mekutambura.”

This was a departure from the legacy as independence celebration champions in the 1980s.

Biggie Tembo wrote “Mutakura” or “Kutambura” around 1989. The song remains one of the most profound protest songs against Mugabe’s misrule at a time when chinks were only just beginning to show in his shining armour at the height of his popularity.

By this time the Gukurahundi Massacres were happening away from the attention of the country and the international community.

Kagona continued to sing from a different hymn sheet and prophetically predicted the mass suffering and mass exodus that took place from 1997 before hyper-inflation and political violence during elections.

He was literally a conscientious objector in exile. One lady mourner explained how Kagona was up to date with political events in Harare even while thousands of miles away.

At their height Bhundu Boys resembled ‘The Beatles.’ One day their story will be written objectively although the departure of Kagona, Tembo, Shakespear Kangwena, David Mankaba and Shepherd Munyama will leave a yawning gap.

The happy camaraderie of musical brothers had their quiet and happy moment far from the madding crowd. The narrative afterwards presented a different picture with Kagona seen as the arch-villain for some.

But there were those who always knew the real Kagona and the personalities behind the other names. They fondly and respectfully called him Rice, which apparently, was his original name.

Kagona’s death received muted media attention in the British press. Not so for Kangwena and Mankaba. Perhaps time moved on.

Removal from the Zimbabwean context may have played a huge part. A relative of Kangwena said that the other band members seemed to thrive in their relative anonymity.

The Independent of December 15, 1993 wrote the following in Kangwena’s orbituary: “The Bhundu Boys shot to prominence in Britain in 1986, one of the leading instigators, and beneficiaries, of a boom in Western interest in African music.

“They did this typically by playing night after night in pubs and small clubs until the irresistibly bouncy music and engaging personalities conquered not only dancers but media support from early fans such as John Peel and Andy Kershaw.

“But their recording contract with the leading label WEA did not bring the success both parties had hoped for, and as the African music boom levelled off so did their international careers.

“Although assured fame at home, they preferred to play abroad, and had come to Britain most recently after months spent touring the Pacific and Australasia.”

“A substantial network of relations, friends and associates depended on their earnings, and their tours were accompanied by much wheeling and dealing to augment their fees.

“One of Kangwena’s preoccupations in the weeks before his return to Harare was an effort to locate a second-hand Alfa Romeo engine to send home for an engineless car the group was hoping to sell.”

Kangwena sent relatives to school and assured them of a better life through education.

The same would probably be true of the other band members including Chitsvatsva whose brother’s son is the famous Urban Grooves musician Rockford “Roki” Josephat with whom they share as striking resemblance.

Chitsvatsva’s parents lived in Highfields in Harare. Musicians like Mafriq and many others came from the same neighbourhood.