FOUNDERS of Mafriq Music Factory (MMF), an upcoming entertainment organisation, took time to commemorate the life of mbira maestro Chiwoniso Maraire, who passed away on July 24, 2013 after succumbing to suspected pneumonia.
BY ALOIS VINGA
Popularly known as the ‘The Rebel Woman’ in her social circles, Maraire was instrumental in the establishment of MMF.
Chiwoniso’s former manager Cosmas Zamangwe told NewsDay that he had fond memories of the late Mbira princess.
“Besides being her manager, I got to be close and built a lifelong friendship with Chi during the time she and Andy Brown used to play at my club, The Willows, in Highfield. She exposed me to the magic of the mbira and the endless possibilities in the music industry,” he recalled.
“At that time she was at her peak and we were doing very well, having sold-out shows. I was devastated when she passed on and I still can’t come to grips with the reality that she is gone. After her sad and untimely death, I took a bit of a sabbatical away from show business. However, a number of artistes approached me asking me to manage the MMF which was one of Chiwoniso’s treasured projects.”
He said after a brief stint managing Mafriq and having observed first-hand the challenges musicians faced in an environment where professional advice and material resources were scarce, the idea to form MMF was born.
Lovedale Makanaka, popularly known as Dischord in the Mafriq music outfit, described Chiwoniso as “a custodian of the Zimbabwean music tradition” through whom the mbira was modernised and brought to new audiences in Zimbabwe and abroad.
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“I had immense respect for her as a musical genius. She made mbira so cool and demystified its association as an ancient relic of the past. Without a doubt she will be forever etched in the annals of Zimbabwean music history,” he said.
Mafriq Music Factory is a full-service entertainment company founded in in March 2014.
