The Sunday News
Mbongeni Msimanga Sunday Leisure Correspondent
UNTIL recently, music and the arts in general were perceived to be a preserve of those that are not academically gifted but a lot more artistes are proving that an archaic belief, a misconception that needs to be ridiculed and thrown out with the contempt it deserves. A lot of professionals ranging from engineers, police officers, soldiers, teachers and even headmasters who people think to be more serious office bearers have come out to showcase their artistry thereby debunking the notion that the arts are reserved for those not gifted academically.
Bob “The Headmaster” Nyabinde is one of the professionals whose name rings a bell in the music industry.
His compositions are social commentaries based on various social issues such as education and his lyrical mastery can never be doubted.
When he arrived on the local music scene with his first offing Pane Nyaya in 2002 he did so with a thud, loud enough that his presence could be felt even by those with the remotest appreciation of jazz music.
Pane Nyaya, a jam packed masterpiece had such hits as Chabuda Hapana, a track which dominated the airwaves and became an anthem among jazz lovers.
No doubt, the album scaled Nyabinde to dizzy heights in his musical career as he was soon to claim his space among the country’s musical luminaries.
Buoyed by the massive popularity that his first offing enjoyed, The Headmaster as he is popularly known in the showbiz industry released his second album, Ndiratidze in 2004, an equally brilliant piece of work which reaffirmed and concretised his status as a jazz maestro.
Nyabinde was to release his third album Teerera in 2006. After that the former JR Davies Headmaster took somewhat of a sabbatical as he was not releasing any more new works.
Many people, save for his close followers, believed the man had reached an eclipse in his artistic talent as a number of new artistes emerged and appeared to have elbowed Nyabinde out of the game with some saying The Headmaster had been overtaken by time and events. They thought the jazz icon was finished and wrote him off but alas, all that was and remains a mirage as The Headmaster is still in the game and just as his name suggests, he is still on top of affairs in the local jazz fraternity.
Nyabinde said he was far from being finished reiterating that he was now more into private functions with a few public gigs.
The Headmaster said there were plans to release a single that would stamp authority that he was still setting the rules in the “school of local jazz music”.
Sunday Leisure caught up with Nyabinde to explain what he has been up to so far.
“I wouldn’t say it was an absence but I have been performing at private functions and a few public functions here and there. I have a single that I am working on at the moment and I will release it soon.
“The element of piracy has also played a role in influencing my perceived sabbatical. Challenges have been with the Zimbabwe Music Rights Association (Zimura) Board and I think there has to be a deterrent judgment on piracy so that artistes do not lose out on their labour.
“I think we as artistes are also spoilt in the sense that we rely on promoters a lot so that they make and do business for us,” he said.
To many, Nyabinde is seen as nothing more than a musician, but there is more to the man who gave us jams such as Ndiratidze, Rudo, Eastern Highlands and Angila Mali among other songs.
The name Headmaster is derived from Nyabinde’s extensive background in the education sector where he served for 30 years.
He served as a headmaster at many schools in the Midlands Province and that is where he broke onto the music landscape before finally dropping the chalk and duster for the guitar in 2007.
Nyabinde trained at Mutare Teacher’s College in the late 1970s and one of the subjects he majored in – Carpentry has since opened a new avenue for him as he is now eyeing professional music instruments repairing and manufacture, a lifelong dream he harboured for many years.
“As we speak am actually repairing Solo Makore’s guitar. Yes am still into carpentry. They say you cannot divorce an artiste from his experiences,” he said.
Apart from his music talent, Nyabinde is also a passionate writer and academic in his own right.
The Headmaster has on many occasions been invited to workshops to present papers on local music, arts and culture.
Very few would even imagine that Nyabinde once had a stint in the media contributing cartoons for our two sister papers Manica Post in Mutare and Chronicle as well as the Midlands Observer in Kwekwe.
His 21-year-old son Aggabu, who has been playing with his father ever since he was a toddler, seems ripe and ready to venture into the music jungle where his father found his current fame.
