Bob Nyabinde 'The Headmaster's secret

Bob Nyabinde

To many, he is still a headmaster at JR Davies and other schools within the Midlands town of Kwekwe. Others think his stage name is, but a nom de plume coined after the hit song, Chabuda Hapana from the 2002 album Pane Nyaya. Bob "The Headmaster" Nyabinde, is alive and well, from what was observed at a joint show with Dino Mudondo last Friday at Jazz 105.

Buoyed by the popularity of the first offering, a second album, Ndiratidze, was released in 2004, followed by Teerera in 2006. Although no new album has been released since then, The Headmaster has often been seen performing at various private and public functions around the country. At the same time, his involvement in the country's educational activities could not go unnoticed.

Those who attended the show would not be amused to learn that The Headmaster has since left the teaching and school administration profession and neither would they believe that he is no longer a fulltime musician. As usual, The Headmaster lived to his fans' expectations, having been absent from the jazz joint for some time.

Nyabinde plays the acoustic guitar and his backed by Savannah Drive, comprising of his two sons, Aggabu and Albert on lead and bass guitars respectively, Lionell Mparutsa on keyboards and saxophonist Scott Mhlanga. Of note though, is the inclusion of Grace Mpapa and Precious Lovelight, the two female backing vocals, and also the new and gifted drummer, Ovie Osiobgo from Nigeria. The group dished out some of the popular songs from his three albums.

The combination of various young and talented musicians from different ethnic backgrounds has somehow refreshed, Savannah Drive to produce music that could be best described as "pan-African sound". During the show, The Headmaster couldn't help but acknowledge the appreciative crowd that swayed and sang-along to popular songs such as Ndiratidze, popularly known as Makoro-koto, Rudo, Eastern Highlands, Hangila Mali, Teerera and Gwenyambira, among others. A few songs from a yet-to-be-recorded album were also played.

Twenty-year-old Aggabu, who has been playing with his father ever since he was a toddler, had this to say: "The group now has a new feel from other parts of Zimbabwe and the rest of Africa. The combination of new and distinctive voices and instrumentals has given us a chance to develop our own talents. I have learnt a lot from the association with my dad ever since I was young up to now."
Although Nyabinde still lives by the name that the fans call him, the Headmaster revealed to the Fingaz Weekend he had set his sights on another profession.

The guitarist has now turned to his lifelong dream - that of repairing and manufacturing musical instruments. We caught up with him at his new place of work - a room at the National Film School at the Production Services Centre, Harare, that he calls "my laboratory". As he sat on the stool to tell his story, The Headmaster was busy working on a custom-made, seven-string bass guitar for one of his students from Prince Edward School. It was clear that Nyabinde was enjoying his "newly-found" career.

"Many people will be surprised to see me working in this instrument repair studio. In fact, when I was training at Mutare Teachers' College in the late 1970s, one of my major subjects was carpentry, and as a musician, it was only natural that I manufactured my own instruments," he said. The workshop was full of broken guitars, drums, keyboards and other instruments. According to Nyabinde, there are very few instrument repair workshops in Zimbabwe and therefore, he finds his "new" trade as a contribution to the growth and education of music in the country.

The interview was interspaced with demonstrations on some old and reconditioned instruments, as well as on some new ones just acquired and ready for the market. As a trained teacher, Nyabinde has excelled and inspired many students throughout his 30-year career that lasted until 2007. However, the urge to play has always been in his blood, he says. The affinity between Nyabinde and the guitar goes long back to Hilltop Primary School in Mutare, where he teamed up with other kids to play guitars made out of tins. He still feels there is direct connection between music and education.

"Music can be used as a good education tool for any subject, be it maths, science, language, history or any other because we are dealing with numbers as well as the language and cultural aspects. I am thankful to all parents of the schools that I have taught and led, for all their support as they understood how important it was for their children to take up music as part of their curriculum."

Apart from repairing instruments and playing music part-time, Nyabinde is an avid writer and academic in his own right who is often invited to workshops to give presentations and papers on music, arts and cultural matters locally and abroad. Fingaz