SCORES of Soul Brothers band fans in Bulawayo have expressed shock at the death of legendary musician David Masondo who died on Sunday after succumbing to cancer.
BY LUYANDUHLOBO MAKWATI
Masondo died at the Garden City Hospital in Johannesburg at the age of 67. At the time of his death, the Soul Brothers band – a mbaqanga outfit –was reportedly busy recording 39th album.
Soul Brothers has recorded over 30 albums since formation in 1974.
Masondo became a regular feature in Bulawayo when the mbaqanga greats toured the country on a regular basis.
Renowned promoter, Omega Sibanda, who regularly brought Masondo into Zimbabwe, said he was coming to terms with the death.
He said Soul Brothers fans have been robbed of a talented man who made their lives tick as far as music and entertainment was concerned. Sibanda added that he worked with Soul Brothers for more than a decade.
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“I am sad about this development. I have worked with this group for a long time and it is painful that the lead singer of this band has gone. We had more than 11 performances together and I think we worked for 11 good straight years.
The music industry in this region has lost a true African son who knew how to entertain revellers. Soul Brothers was the only remaining group from the original African bands that we have been looking up to in this region after losing the late Brenda Fassie, Lucky Dube, Mparanyana, Miriam Makeba – and now the mercurial Masondo is gone. We have lost a great musician from the region,” Sibanda said.
Various people who grew up in this region in the Diaspora took it to the social media to mourn Masondo with the likes of literally artist Christopher Mlalazi, now based in Germany stated:
“At a point, the voice of David Masondo was an industry in the shebeens of Bulawayo. A shebeen without the Soul Brothers was boring. The Soul Bothers supported families of shebeen owners for decades. With that, I would like to suggest our shebeens to raise flags at half-mast to mourn a legend from within the region. This is not a joke,” his post read.
Most commuter omnibuses and spots bars in Bulawayo were playing Soul Brothers songs in memory of the late Masondo yesterday.
The Soul Brothers’ unique music, marshalled with deep Zulu lyrics has endeared them to fans seeking nostalgic and emotional memories. Once, when Masondo was asked what he thought of Zimbabwean music, he said: Umusic wenu ukahle, indaba nje unes’qubu. (Your music is OK, only that it is a bit too fast).
