Sulu salutes Tuku

Sulumani and Oliver Mtukudzi

DENDERA musician Suluman Chimbetu has paid tribute to grandmaster Oliver Mtukudzi for mentoring him into the artiste that he is today, adding that it now his turn to impart the same knowledge and skills to upcoming musicians. “I learnt a lot from rubbing shoulders with Tuku, and this is the reason why I feel obliged to support other artistes I am currently working with,” Sulu said. 

He added that he would not have been the artiste that he is today had it not been for the direction he got from Tuku. This ranged from giving him advice on how to negotiate his way through the industry, stage performance right to studio production as evidenced by the collaboration he had with the grandmaster on one of his songs, “Kwedu”.

“Tuku is a legend, and learning the music ropes from him is always a worthwhile thing. I always look forward to sharing the stage with him and whenever this happens, I come out a different person. “This is exactly what upcoming artistes should do and it is my hope that I can help them achieve their lifetime ambition by sharing with them what mudhara Tuku taught me,” Sulu said. The artiste singled out artistes like Jazz outfit Too Open, Jean Masters and Simon Mutambi as some of the musicians he has been working with.

“They (the artistes) have proved beyond doubt that they have what it takes to make it big in the music industry and by working with them during our shows, we are giving them the platform that they deserve,” he said.

Sulu has been holding joint shows with these artistes at virtually most of his shows and this seems to be working well. (Herald)