Desperate Macheso turns to old hands

Alick Macheso in trying times

Alick Macheso has struck the panic button and fast forwarded the return of his guitarist, Lucky Mumiriki, from sick leave following the departure of three key band members. Donald Gogo who had been touted as the replacement for the departed Noel Nyazanda is said to be unreliable and does not always show up for shows. 

So desperate is the Macheso situation that the musician has had to fork out $500 to pay for physiotherapy sessions for the former Chazezesa Challengers’ lead guitarist, to speed up his recovery. Mumiriki suffered a stroke last year that forced him off the stage. At one point he was wheelchair bound.

While he has made good recovery progress, his fingers are not yet flexible enough to play the guitar and has now been asked to show up for rehearsals to teach new guitarists. Orchestra Mberikwazvo band manager William Tsandukwa, in confirming the coming in of Mumiriki, said: “He cannot handle the guitar himself but he will teach others because he has the experience since he has been playing with us for years.”

Tsandukwa said it was difficult for the Press to talk to Mumiriki since he spent most of his time in practice sessions. Noel Nyazanda was the lead guitarist on most of Orchestra Mberikwazvo songs as he had played with the band for almost 12 years. Nyazanda also led the band during practice when Macheso was not around as he was the most senior member of the band.

Besides being largely unreliable, Donald Gogo does not play most of the songs, especially those that were recorded when he was in self-imposed exile in the United Kingdom between 2000 and 2007. On the other hand, departed dancer Frank “Slomo” Dhaka and Nyazanda are breathing fire, saying there was urgent need for working conditions at Orchestra Mberikwazvo to be improved. Speaking on Tuesday morning, the duo said despite raking in thousands of dollars per working week, they were paid paltry amounts like $150 each per week.

“To be honest, the management of the band is very poor and probably the worst in the country. There are three managers who rarely agree on anything. The only thing that they seem to agree on is to make band members miserable. Currently they are verbally abusing me for a decision that I took to improve my life,” added Slomo. The talented dancer said he made the painful decision to depart from Orchestra Mberikwazvo after discovering that the band was not going to improve his life in any way. The artiste claims that he has nothing to show for his decade-long service with the band.

Disgruntled and bitter former lead guitarist Nyazanda concurred: “Personally, I was denied a loan because management argued that giving me a personal loan to buy a housing stand meant that they would be compromising their position since we were not entitled to such privileges. Sulu promised me the loan and I think any normal person would do what I did. To be honest, if Macheso does not do something about his management, one of these days he is going to be in serious trouble. We are the only ones who were courageous, but I can assure you that all is not well in that band.”

Macheso has since moved away from asking for a flat performance fee from promoters, insisting that he gets gate-takings. A promoter who spoke on condition on anonymity said on average Macheso crowd for a good show hovers between 1 400 and 1 500, with an entry charge of US$4. With an average of three shows on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, each weekend rakes in a minimum of US$10 000.

Tsandukwa dismissed the assertions by the duo, stating that the same management they were criticising was the same management that existed when they joined. “This is a case of sour grapes as Slomo was facing competition from Selemani “Majuice” Mpochi whilst Nyazanda faced competition from Donald Gogo. The kitchen became hot for them and they decided to quit.”

Meanwhile, things have not been finalised for the Sulu deserters as they are still to find a home. Initially Tryson was reported to have taken them in but as of last week, he had developed cold feet, which saw the four approach Chamu Boroma, largely touted as the “Forgotten Son”.