Andy “Muzukuru” Brown | Zimbabwe’s Advocate for Truth and Land Reform Champion – 18/10/2022

Andy “Muzukuru” Brown

By Kamangeni Phiri

Is there a concerted effort to destroy the legacy of late firebrand musician Andy “Muzukuru” Brown, one of Zimbabwe’s finest artistes and guitarist par-excellence?

Each year, his death anniversary passes by unnoticed while his music is rarely played on national radio or television stations. Even newspapers hardly carry any stories that celebrate Andy’s life.

The iconic artiste’s daughter, Ammara Brown, a talented musician in her own right, believes the media played a catalytic role in her late father’s demise.

“They pick you up to bring you down because bad news sells,” Ammara said in a documentary to celebrate Andy Brown’s life produced in 2013 by Zimbabwean filmmaker, Anthony Mutambira.

The flamboyant musician had a “cat and mouse” kind of relationship with most entertainment journalists at the turn of the millennium. But once upon a time, Andy was everyone’s darling performing before capacity crowds while his music was selling like hot buns, topping local and regional charts.

His fortunes took a knock when he actively participated in the land reform programme through song and deeds (more about that later). It came to a point where Andy ceased to care and journalists would just write anything they want about him.

“A lot of journalists don’t research what they say or write,” he told television personality and publicist Gary Thompson in his One on One television programme way back in 2001. “They don’t even bother to ask me if they’re going to write about me. I just see it when it comes out the next day and I have since stopped reacting because to do so will seem as if something is true about these things,” he said, before adding resignedly, “I don’t worry much about it anymore. After all publicity is publicity whether good or bad.”

Yet few people have influenced Zimbabwe’s musical landscape the way Andy did. As an artiste, his popularity is right up there with legends like Thomas Mapfumo, Lovemore Majaivana, Leonard Dembo and Oliver Mtukudzi.

But as a patriotic cultural icon he might even be bigger.

Brown, a first generation coloured, considered himself black, a mukaranga from Mberengwa.  He detested being associated with whites and in 2011 he punched a friend and neighbor at a house party for calling him Ian Smith’s son, according to his close friend, writer, Knowledge Teya.

Brown understood the importance and value of land to locals and his national outlook was legendary.

“I come from Mberengwa where we have a man who owns 300 square km of land yet my mother, uncles and folks are all squashed up in this sandy place … look give us some of that land that you are having. I know we will have our teething problems but I also know everything is going to be okay eventually but give the people land, don’t take too much … share!” he said in Mutambira’s documentary.

Brown sacrificed a flowing, glowing and growing musical career when he opted to do “Hondo YeMinda” jingles with the More Fire Crew in 2001. It was about the same time when he released anti-establishment songs like the controversial hit, Tongogara and Corruption.

The song Tongogara questions why leaders kill one another for high positions when the country had lost so many of its sons and daughters in order to gain self-rule.

Andy Brown will always be remembered as an advocate for truth, a trendsetter, and, most importantly, a symbol of Zimbabwean pride owing to his long dreadlocks, timeless music, and undying love for Zimbabwe.

He remained optimistic till his death, that Zimbabwe’s woes triggered by the land reform would end one day, especially if everyone learnt to be tolerant. Muzukuru died on March 16, 2012.

“We have to learn to live with each other and also appreciate our differences. The big problem we need to deal with I think is that of patriotism – whether one is Zimbabwean or not. It should not be an issue if one belongs to this political party or not. You know these kind of things, we have to learn to tolerate,” said the legendary musician back then in 2001.

His life was analogous to that of the late king of reggae, Bob Marley. Both artistes were of a mixed race, outspoken, and grew up with their mothers’ people. Brown, just like Marley, had an absent white father and the two were socialised black men who looked more white than black.

And they both loved having affairs with many women and fathering kids with them. Andy Brown fathered 10 children with seven different women.

He was once married to late musician Chiwoniso Maraire but they later divorced before dying from the same ailment one year apart. At the time of his death, Brown was married to Nadine Brown.

Brown cited his playing at the “Human Rights Now” concert held in Harare in 1988 as some of the highlights of his illustrious but controversy-filled career. He shared the stage with International heavyweights like Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Yossour N’Dour, Tracy Chapman, and Zimbabwe’s best musical export to date, the Bhundu Boys.

“It was the first time I had a stage fright. There were so many people. I had not seen so many people in one place. Bruce Springstein helped me settle. He began by introducing the band,” said Brown.

Andy Brown was a talented Zimbabwean singer, songwriter and guitarist whose birth name was Godfrey Cadia Shoko but renamed himself Andy Brown as a way of fitting into the coloured community during his time in Bulawayo. He was also known as Maunganidze owing to his ability to lure large crowds to his shows. Andy was born on March 15, 1962 in Mberengwa to a German father (Other reports say the father was a British doctor) and a Zimbabwean mother, Zvondiwe Ncube. Brown kick-started his primary education at the local Chavengwa Primary School before proceeding to Mavorondo Secondary School in Mberengwa’s Mudavanhu village for his form one. Brown’s family relocated to Bulawayo and the musician was transferred to Founders High School where he completed his secondary education.

Brown started showing interest in music at the age of six while herding cattle and goats. He would practice playing his home-made guitar composed of a 10-litre cooking oil tin, a plank and fishing line twine as strings.

At high school Andy would bunk lessons at Founders High School in order to find time to practice with his beloved guitar.

After completing his ordinary level studies, Brown briefly joined a local band, Ebony Shiek, before teaming up with Gabriel Green with whom he formed the group Pisces in 1980.

Andy moved to Harare where he formed the group Grabb with celebrated musician, Rozalla Miller, and Boykie Moore. The group, however, disintegrated when Rozalla moved to England in 1984. The following year the nomadic Brown joined the Rusike Brothers but the marriage was short-lived.

His biggest breakthrough came in 1986 when he teamed up with late veteran musician Don Gumbo and Brian Paul to form Ilanga. Ilanga was a star-studded  group whose line-up included, Busi Ncube, Don Gumbo, Munya Brown, the late Chinx Chingaira, Keith Farquarson, the late Adam Chisvo and Gibson Mangena.

Andy featured prominently on Ilanga’s albums, Visions Foretold and Silver and Gold, that still sound as fresh today as they did more than 30 years ago. He was playing the lead guitar and doing vocals.

Ilanga was one of the best groups in the country and it went on dominate the late 1980s musical scene. Sadly, the group split after about two years.

Brown left Ilanga in 1988 to form his own group, The Storm. He later relocated to South Africa where he joined the group We Three and penned all the songs for one of their albums. Brown also played as a session musician for several artistes, including famous reggae star Jambo.

He came back home in 1995 to resuscitate his flagging career with The Storm. He relaunched his career with the album Gondwanaland which became a hit with such songs like Tichangoshaina and Zindoga.

By 1997, The Storm had a rich lineup that consisted of legendary drummer, Sam Mataure, Ian Hillman a bassist from Kwekwe, the late Adam Chisvo (mbira/percussions), Keith Farquarson (keyboardist), the late Chiwoniso Maraire (vocals/mbira/percussions), the late Mwendi Chibindi (background vocals), and Paddy Moyo as the band manager.

Brown’s debut album, Storm was released in 1989, while Chimvuramabhwe followed in 1990.

In 1998, he helped Chiwoniso to record her debut album Ancient Voices.

He called his beat hybrid. It was an eclectic sound which blended Zimbabwean traditional music with elements of blues, jazz and rock, among other beats from different parts of the world, especially Africa.

At his best, Andy was a man full of jokes and fun but his short-temper was legendary.

Brown’s works will forever occupy a unique niche in the annals of Zimbabwe’s music history. The same history will record that his stage acts were well-polished, choreographed and had a cosmopolitan feel.

It will further reveal that the boy of mixed race from Mberengwa had a rich discography of 12 albums yet still failed to land an award in his lifetime.

How?

Even the most stoic of music award adjudicators in Zimbabwe will flinch over that question.

Continue Resting in Peace Muzukuru.