Sakaki Mango, the explosive high octane music star from Japan, is back in Zimbabwe. The legendary musician will perform at the Book Café on Thursday May 31 2012 at 8pm.
He will perform with The Limba Train Sound System, an outfit comprising Katsuhiro Idomoto (drums) and Akira Hasegawa (bass). The show is part of the artist’s Southern Africa tour, which includes performances slated for Mozambique, Swaziland and South Africa.
Sakaki is regarded as Japan’s greatest “world music” exponent and most acclaimed Japanese musician to perform in Zimbabwe. His music is described as a cross-breed of African sounds, Japanese effects and mixes, blended with Japanese and Swahili lyrics.
He fell in love with mbira after he saw Chiwoniso Maraire in Harare over a decade ago. The Afro-Asian multi-instrumentalist has a diverse repertoire that includes the lamellaphone, a thumb-piano from Central Africa that is similar to mbira, the electric likembe, a Congolese amplified lamellaphone and mbira from Zimbabwe.
His African journeys have taken him to Tanzania, Congo, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Kenya, widely studying African music. This developed into a Japanese festival entitled “Sukiyaki Meets the World” and the star-studded international touring collaboration dubbed “Suki Afrika” with a line-up that included Chiwoniso Maraire, Peter Solo (Togo), Erik Aliana (Cameroon), Chang Jae-Hyo (Korea) and Ndana (Japan). This collaboration performed at The Mannenberg in Harare in 2011.
Saki’s accolades include winning Best Album in the World Music Category in Japan (2006 and 2008), composing the music for the world-acclaimed, award-winning film Chocolate and numerous tours in Asia, US, Europe, Latin America and Africa. He is brought to Zimbabwe by the National Arts Council, in collaboration with Pamberi Trust. Skills-sharing workshops will be held for young Zimbabwean artists at Book Café as part of the music and cultural exchange programme.
