Biography

Wazimbo started his musical career in 1964 with the Silverstars (1969) and continued as a singer with the Geiziers, performing a colonial mix of international pop music with a Brazilian tinge in Mocambique´s capital, Maputo. Maputo's relationship to South Africa was comparable with Havana's to Miami before the Cuban Revolution, when Havana's reputation was that of a casino hotspot.
After the liberation of Mocambique from Portugal in 1975, Wazimbo worked with the big band of the national radio station, Radio Mocambique. He became the lead vocalist of "Orchestra Marrabenta Star de Mocambique" in 1979 and worked with various members from the the big band of Radio Mocambique.
Orchestra Marrabenta Star de Mocambique was a talented group made up of the best musicians and dancers from the south of the country, and one of the few groups that flourished during this period due to their close relationship with Radio Mocambique, then the only national radio station. They were also favourites of the ruling political party, Frelimo. Led by the main vocalist Wazimbo, the group developed a full and funky style of marrabenta, featuring electric guitars, powerful horn lines and soulful vocals.
In 1988 they recorded the popular "Harare Sessions" in Simbabwe, as Mocambique did not offer any music industry. During a recording brake Wazimbo played his legendary "Nwahulwana ballad" while the tape machine was still running. The track was discovered later in London when the mixing took place, and later used by Microsoft for a commercial, as well as for the soundtrack for the 2001 film "The Pledge", directed by Sean Penn.
After becoming extremely popular at home in Mocambique, they toured Europe and released two CD's on Germany's Piranha label. Both recordings showcase a mix of dance styles plus the occasional strikingly soulful ballad. The 90´s saw a return to peace in Mozambique, but by then there were no recording studios or music venues, and the group finally disbanded in 1995. Marrabenta was the rough-edged, urban dance music of Mozambique which emerged in the 50´s. It used a fast folkloristic rhythm called majika, as well as a kind of calypso and Angolan merengue, and emerged as an energetic dance-music. It became strongly associated with the struggle for independence and was almost completely wiped out (along with Mozambique's music industry) by the bitter civil war, which raged throughout the country during the 80´s. Accompanied by the socially controversial vocals sung in Ronga and Shangana, marrabenta was played on guitars constructed from fuel canisters and fishing wire, often struck so hard the strings snapped. Thus marrabenta got its name from the word "arrabentar", which is Ronga and means "breaking".