‘Women Here and Now’ at the Brazil-Mozambique Cultural Centre in Maputo
Documentary Guitar Monsters with Wazimbo @ Camões Maputo
10:18 CAT | 20 March 2024
Documentary Guitar Monsters with Wazimbo @ Camões Maputo
To celebrate the 75th birthday of Mozambican musician Wazimbo, the Camões Centro Cultural Português in Maputo is on March 20 (at 6:00 p.m.) screening the documentary Monstros de Guitarra, followed by a conversation with the musician and the director and producer of the documentary. Entry is free.
Monstros de Guitarra is a series of documentaries about Mozambican musicians and their trajectory with the stories told by the musicians themselves, accompanied by music.
The episode to be presented on Wednesday portrays the life of the renowned musician Wazimbo, and will be followed by a conversation with the artist and the director and producer of the documentary, Aldino Languana.
The documentary was directed and produced by Aldino Languana, filmed by Micas Mondlane and Francisco Martins and edited by Ilídio Sithole.
Wazimbo - a biography
Humberto Carlos Benfica, better known as Wazimbo, is an icon of Mozambican music, a career professional for over 50 years and one of the greatest voices ever known, with a career associated with Banda RM and later with Orquestra Marrabenta Star, in addition to partnerships with local and international musicians. He is the author of two solo records, plus a collection of songs, which mark his trajectory with Orquestra Marrabenta.
Today he is working on 'Mafalala Roots', a work that seeks to portray his experience in Mafalala, the historic Maputo neighbourhood well known for its habits and customs. He lived there for much of his childhood and youth, in the midst of a typical indigenous culture full of richness and diversity, in a context of past generations, where memories remain and from which only memory can rescue the good times.
Mafalala Roots is a work that coincides with his birthday - he turned 75 years old in November, 2023. A major record, it will presents songs that serve as inspiration for all eras, the essence of his experience in Mafalala as well as his time at Orquestra Marrabenta Star until the partnerships of the late 90s and early 2000s with Digital MC, Mad Level, DJ A.D., Sizaquiel, Iolanda Kakana and many other singers of the new generation.
During the existence of the Marrabenta Star Orchestra, through the German label Piranha, Wazimbo recorded the ballad, Nwahulwana (Night Bird), a theme that gave him greater visibility in the country and around the world, and for a time featured in a Microsoft commercial. In 2001, the song was used as the soundtrack for the film The Pledge, directed by Sean Penn and starring Jack Nicholson.
Initially recorded with the Marrabenta Star Orchestra, the song's lyrics express a certain sadness about the itinerant lifestyle of a fascinating and wonderful girl, whom Wazimbo refers to as his "sister-Maria", but who unfortunately wastes her nights interacting with men in bars.
His credits with Orquestra Marrabenta include the LPs Independence and Piquenique, both characterised by various rhythms and dance, but all under the banner of Marrabenta, the predominant style of the orchestra. From 1986 to 1989, participants included Wazimbo and José Guimarães, until its definitive dissolution in 1990.
Wazimbo has a loyal audience both at home and abroad, with the emphasis on the SADC and CPLP countries, plus many European countries, thanks to his solo career marked by the records Makweru (1997), Roots (2016), and now Mafalala Roots (2023).
Leave a Reply
Be the First to Comment!
You must be logged in to post a comment.
You must be logged in to post a comment.