THE GROUP

Formed on the 12th of August 1994 in the Nkulumane suburb of Bulawayo, in Zimbabwe. Umdumo Wesizwe (sound of the nation) is a music ensemble made up of nine (9) talented young men.

THE MUSIC
Umdumo Wesizwe performs Imbube music and over the years they have shrugged barriers to create their own style of imbube, which has been christened "igusheshe" This is imbube music that is laced with other music styles such as R n B, Jazz, Kwaito and Reggae

THE PERFOMANCES
Umdumo has performed live music coupled with thought provoking and well choreographed dances and movements to appreciative audiences at prestigious functions, venues and festivals in Zimbabwe, Southern Africa, the UK and Europe.

IMBUBE
The traditional music sung by Umdumo Wesizwe is called "isichathamiya" (is-cot-a-me-ya) also known as "imbube". The music was born in the mines of South Africa. Black workers were taken by rail to work far away from their homes and their families. Poorly housed and paid worse, they would entertain themselves after a six-day week by singing songs into the wee hours every Sunday morning. There began a fierce but social competition held regularly and a highlight of everyone's social calendar. The winners were awarded a goat for their efforts and, of course, the adoration of their fans. Imbube has been made popular in the west by Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Zimbabwe's Black Umfolosi and the Austrian based trio Insingizi.

PROFILE
The well travelled Umdumo Wesizwe has shared the stage with numerous artists from Zimbabwe, Africa and the world; some of these include Zimbabwe's own Siyaya ,Black Umfolosi, Aleck Macheso, Jeys Marabini, Imbizo, Oliver Mtukudzi, Senegalese Ishmael lo and recently in the same festival(s) with Youssor Ndour, James Blunt, Jay Zee, Femi Kuti and Peter Gabriel to name a few.
Umdumo Wesizwe has performed at various festivals in their native Zimbabwe and internationally, from Zimbabwe's Intwasa to Ibumba festival enroute to the world stage at WOMAD & Glastonbury, recently they performed with well known comedian Sasha Baron Cohen of the Borat fame at an event in Manchester UK, they have also performed for American human rights activist Jesse Jackson and FIFA President Sepp Blatter in their Sheffield UK visits in June and August 2008 respectively.
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CDs
In 2005 Umdumo Wesizwe recorded their debut CD called "Nqingqo" and was released on SMP Records in 2006.

"Qo" is the second offering, still under SMP Records and was released in 2008 and is now available here, good record shops, festival stalls and live gigs.

"Together- Thina Sisonke" is a new collaboration with British Folk Singer Janet Wood, expected to be out at the end of 2009.

© 2009 Sabela Music Projects
Design: Saimon Mambazo