OLIVER ‘TUKU’ MTUKUDZI ROCKS ADDIS ABABA

There was supposed to be a ‘festival’ two weekends ago in Addis Ababa called Selam Music Festival sponsored by a group whose initials are SEANM, some Swedish-Ethiopian musical something or other promising conferences and workshops and live music in clubs around town, which apparently degenerated into a few shows at ONE club called Club Alize’. Now while I didn’t come here specifically for that, and I’ve experienced other such dubious ‘festivals’ which are frequently little more than mutual admiration societies for egocentric cliques, I’m still disappointed, more as a promoter and supporter of the arts than personally, that such opportunities for communion amongst diverse groups are missed. So when I found out that Oliver ‘Tuku’ Mtukudzi was playing in a show sponsored by the African Union I didn’t hesitate to grab a ticket. I’ve got habits to feed, too, and they’re always hungry.

‘Tuku’ is apparently a pretty big star in his native Zimbabwe, though I’m not sure how often he gets back to check, given the situation there and his star status on the world music circuit. He’s been featured several times on Putumayo compilations and has appeared in numerous world music festivals. The only time I saw him before was in Globalquerque! in New Mexico a couple years ago, so it was nice to hear him again without multiple stages competing for my attention. He was in good form even if the sound system wasn’t, frequently backfiring and even causing a fifteen minute disruption at one point. Tuku persevered with his smooth breezy Caribbean-like sounds. This is Reggae without the Rasta, ear candy without all the quasi-philosophical baggage which a non-adept may or may not be able to ‘overstand’ or even tolerate. It suits me just fine; I want more. Tuku is a showman also, with his own ‘moon-walk’ which he’ll gladly take to the bleachers if that’s what it takes to move butts. Too bad there weren’t more there to move, with the Africa Union’s ticket prices a bit steep for local budgets. Don’t let that stop you.