Tendai Chimombe follows in father’s steps

TENDAI Chimombe — the first born of the late legendary musician James Chimombe — is following in her father’s footsteps. The 40-year-old mother of two becomes the second child after her ailing brother Freddy to use their father’s music as a launch pad. Although this might come as a surprise to many, the fact is that Tendai has always been a musician at heart, dating back to her late father’s heydays.

“I have always had a passion for music from the tender age of four. I grew up surrounded by musicians in the form of my father and brother (Freddy). My father was very open and he would show me direction in how to approach the music industry.

“He always advised me not to rush things saying the industry was full of pitfalls. He always reminded me to be always strong as a woman since the music industry was male-dominated. “He would talk to me in a very candid way and was very approachable. When he passed away in 1990, I was 18 years old and I was very devastated,” she recalls.

However, it was only last year that Tendai, like a matador, decided to take the bull by the horns by entering the music fray on a professional basis. “I started by working with a number of musicians like Emmanuel Thomas (formerly of Frontline Crew), Cleopas Manyowa and Nyasha Bare, all of whom I assisted in recording their albums as well as backing them during their live shows,” she said.

The affable artiste said she made this decision out of the desire to revive her father’s music. “I decided to take up music from where my brother Freddy left since he has not yet fully recovered. I couldn’t just sit idle and watch while my father’s music heritage go to waste,” said the Highfield-based singer.

Tendai said she was grateful to Government’s empowerment drive that gave women a quota in national and developmental issues. She said it was through empowerment that she could now confidently stand on her feet as an artiste. “I am very thankful to the empowerment initiative introduced by the Government because women can now do what men can do in all spheres of life.

“I can’t let my father’s music legacy go to waste because I am a woman. I might be female, but my voice is alto and nothing can stop me from taking up music from where he (James) left. All I want is to keep his music alive and make the fans happy,” she said.

It is clear that Tendai is determined to walk the path that her father traversed after she enrolled for a National Certificate in Music at the Zimbabwe College of Music in June last year, a course which she completed in April this year.“It was very challenging, but it gave me the confidence to stand on stage before a crowd and also to approach music professionally.

“My father was one of the pioneers of this diploma at the Zimbabwe College of Music and that alone was enough inspiration and motivation for me to take up the course,” the artiste said. Tendai is currently holding weekly shows with her cousin, Lincoln, backed by a group by the name Zambezi Crew.

“We are holding shows backed by the Zambezi Crew although in future we are going to change the name to Huchi Band, which was the name of my father’s last band. “I am also going to release my own album at the end of the year,” she revealed. Tendai, however, had a gripe with people who were pirating her father’s music and also remixing it without consent from the Chimombe family and relevant music authorities.

“It (piracy) is a painful practice because artistes and their families rely on the royalties from the sales.
“Although Freddy is the one who is collecting the royalties earned from our father’s music, this is not much because there are some people who are reaping where they did not sow.

“Then there are some musicians who recorded my father’s music without our permission and music organisations like Zimura. This is very bad,” lamented Tendai, who apart from being a musician, is also a professional secretary having studied at Professional College in Harare.

Recently, Tendai had the opportunity to share the stage with popular South African musician Steve Kekana at the Coca-Cola Green Stage during this year’s edition of the Harare International Festival of the Arts. The collaboration was on the song “Cecilia” originally done by her father in Shona and later recorded by Kekana in English.

“This song was in honour to my father and it was a great honour to collaborate with one of Africa’s great musicians on one of the songs that made my father a music legend,” she said. Born on February 22, 1972 in Harare, Tendai is the first born in the family of the late musician followed by Freddy who was born on May 11, 1975, Linda, Linden, Kudakwashe (now late) and Tatenda who is based in the United Kingdom. Herald