Mtukudzi, Makeba in collaboration

Mtukudzi, Makeba in collaboration

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By Showbiz Reporter

SUPERSTAR Oliver Mtukudzi is recording with the legendary South African jazz singer, Miriam Makeba.

The pair will collaborate on a single set to be first released on Makeba's album later in the year.

Mtukudzi told New Zimbabwe.com: "Miriam and I have been in the music business for a very long time. So this song chats our musical journey through time.

"It's a celebration of the many years we have spent in the music industry."

Mtukudzi has already recorded his new album -- Tsimba Itsoka -- which is now due for release later in May this year.

Makeba, born in 1932, began her singing career in the 1950's, while Mtukudzi, 45, came much later -- bursting onto the chats as a member of the Wagon Wheels band which featured Thomas Mapfumo in 1977.

Their single, Dzandimomotera, went gold and Tuku's first album followed, and it was also a major success.

Mtukudzi, arguably Zimbabwe's most successful recording artist, now has over 50 albums under his belt.

Makeba started off with the Manhattan Brothers, before she formed her own group, The Skylarks, singing a blend of jazz and traditional melodies of South Africa.

In 1959, she performed in the musical King Kong alongside Hugh Masekela, her future husband. Her break came when she starred in the anti-apartheid documentary Come Back, Africa in 1959. When the Italian government invited her to the premier of the film at the Venice Film Festival, she decided not to return home. Her South African passport was revoked shortly afterwards.

She released many of her most famous hits there including Pata Pata, The Click Song (Qongqothwane in Xhosa), and Malaika. In 1966, Makeba received the Grammy Award for Best Folk Recording.

Nelson Mandela persuaded her to return to South Africa in 1990.
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