about
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Bongo Love was formed in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe by John Mambira, who still heads up the band and Nhlanhla Ngwenya who has now moved to the UK to work on a drumming project. With John playing drums and providing lead vocals, Themba Mawoko was recruited for the lead marimba, Trymore Jombo for mbira and Mpho Mambira for the baritone marimba. "Afro-coustics", as they call their genre, is a unique combination of styles delivered on these traditional instruments with lyrics in English, Shona and Ndebele. Since moving to Harare from Bulawayo in 2005, the fabulous quad has gone from playing mostly private functions to performing in some very popular clubs in Zimbabwe's capital, putting on a stellar show every time and winning over countless audiences.
Climbing fast in popularity, they were invited to teach and perform in
Mozambique, Sweden and the Dominican Republic, leading to their first major
tour of the United States in 2007. During the tour they taught and performed
in Seattle, Santa Fe, Boulder, Boston and New York, joining indy band 'Dispatch'
for three sold out shows at Madison Square Garden to top it all off. They
are currently gearing up for their summer 2008 tour!
Who is Bongo Love?
John Mambira, 26
John
can be credited as the brains of the group and has been involved in many
forms of art - acting, dancing, singing and playing music. Before starting
Bongo Love he worked with various groups, both armature and professional,
and has taught workshops at many festivals. A phenomenal drummer, marimba
player and singer with a wide vocal range, he heads up most of the arrangements
and writes the lyrics to their songs.
Themba Mawoko, 27
Themba
started playing the marimba before he could read or write. Taught at home by
his uncle, he picked up the instrument effortlessly and his talent was
quick to be noticed
when he started the first grade and joined the school band. In no time
he was playing professionally with the St. Columbus School marimba band,
showing his
talents at the Zimbabwean National Trade Fair every year. When he ran
into the beginnings of Bongo Love and expressed interest in joining,
they only gave
him one chance to prove himself, which was more than enough, and he has
since become the soul of the group. Mpho Mambira, 27
Mpho
grew up playing his father's drums with brother John and also experimented
with dancing as a youngster, which he still employs during the occasional
performance . When John brought home a marimba one day Mpho, also known
as "Shoes", excitedly started experimenting on the baritone and never
put down the mallets. Like John, he has involved himself with many community
music projects over the years and has made it his job to keep the band
focused and on task. He is the backbone on the baritone, playing with
ease and confidence.
Eric Byington
Eric is the executive director of the Elias Fund, and will be tour manager for Bongo Love on the State Radio and Elias Fund fall tours of 2008.Trymore Jombo, 28
Trymore
started his music career spinning records, then known as "Lt. Zorro" by
friends from his childhood neighborhood of Chitungwiza. Unfulfilled by
this path,
he began studying marimba and mbira on his own and later trained to be
a sound engineer, which led him to John. They were both employed by Dumi
Ngulube's band at the time and it didn't take long for the two to see
the potential they had together. Also known as "Guchi", meaning "sweeter
than sugar", Trymore provides those delicious mbira lines as well as
backing vocals for Bongo Love.