It spans six of his albums from 1998 to the present, and really show the development of his music in that time although his career has been considerably longer (he started with his first band around 1961).

The thread linking the tracks is the mbira altough there’s a great range on here from Mapfumo’s distinctive style and protest lyrics (the album’s name means Music of Struggle). The upbeat cheerful tunes hide some pretty heavy lyrics, about AIDS, youth gangs and Zimbabwe’s liberation war.

The more people I talk to about Thomas Mapfumo the more I realise the impact he’s had on people’s lives, and the high esteem in which he’s held. Although Mapfumo lives in the USA as an exile from Zimbabwe since the 90s he’s still very much known as ‘Lion of Zimbabwe’. Mapfumo started singing protest songs against white supremacy and moved on to protest against Mugabe’s regime in Zimbabwe.

Uplifting, strong and all building up to his classic ‘Chimurenga’ the title track from his 1998 album this is testament to the strength of Mapfumo’s songwriting skills and the strength of his long career, a career which shows no sign of letting up.

Choice Chimurenga is released on Sheer Sound.

Links:
www.thomasmapfumo.com
Thomas Mapfumo’s Wikipedia page
African Music Encyclopedia page
Thomas Mapfumo on Afropop