Alick MacHeso

Award-winning Zimbabwean, musician Alick Macheso, descends on the city of Dublin on August 2, 2008 for a one time show at The Button Factory, (formerly Temple Bar Music Centre). Alick, son of Malawian immigrants, was born in a farm compound in Shamva, Zimabwe, located 90km from Harare in 1968. He learnt his trade at the tender age of 5, playing home-made banjos, made from cooking oil tins and twine from old fishing rods. Aged 15, he left Shamva for Harare’s bright lights in order to try his luck in the big industry. He toured the country with various bands, playing the lead guitar with much ease and grace. One night, the bassist (band leader) was late for a show, Alick asked the members of the group if he could play bass instead. Legend has it that he shocked the whole band with his artistry on bass, as he revolutionalised the art of bass guitar in the entire country from that moment on, playing it like lead. When the band leader emerged, he was so furious that he grabbed the bass away from Alick, he knew that a new king had been born. Alick moved on to join his cousin’s band, Khiama Boys, where the limelight shone on him. He combined his amazing bass, dance and bass guitar skills to great effect that all big names in the Zimbabwean music industry tried to lure him to join their bands, with one even offering to buy him a house if he were to switch camp. Alick was loyal to his cousin and refused as he wanted to shore up Khiama Boys. It was by ‘accident’ that Alick formed his own band in 1998 – Orchestra Mberikwazvo (mberikwazvo means superb). His cousin, Nicholas, locked up Khiama Boys’ instruments and decided to resuscitate his truck-driving trade leaving Alick and other band members unemployed. The newly formed band played borrowed instruments, it took them a year to gain countrywide attention and has been the best-selling band in the country for the past eight years, with seven albums to its credit. Alick’s prowess at bass has led to chants of Macheso Power in all four corners of Zimbabwe, as the ‘power’ of his bass has uniqueness about it. Alick is fluent in five regional languages; Shona, Chichewa, Sena, Venda and Lingala. He plays the guitar with his elbow, head and foot in live shows, a feat many musicians find astounding. His latest album, Ndzezvashe (All is God’s), features a song, Chikopokopo (Helicopter), on which he strums his bass to make the sound of a landing helicopter and another, Murume (Man) whereby he plays lead, making it sound like a flute. A talent who has started to gain worldwide recognition in the past five years, the musical world is exciting with this phenomenon. He has toured the UK and Australia and left crowds asking for more. Perhaps when you see him on stage, you will conclude like many – ‘He must be Jimi Hendrix relived’.