Augustine Musarurwa
Augustine Machina Musarurwa was a saxophonist and one of ZImbabwe's most accomplished musicians of the 20th century. Together with his band African Dance Band of the Cold Storage Commission of Southern Rhodesia , he recorded the now world-famous Skokiaan song which has been covered more than 80 times internationally by such artists as Louis Armstrong. His music was part of the Tsava Tsava genre, which is sometimes spelt Tsaba Tsaba. Internationally, Musarurwa's name is sometimes incorrectly referred to as August Musarurwa or Msarurgwa . Augustine Musarurwa was born in Zvimba in 1920. As a teen, Augustine attended Marshall Hartley School before moving to Salisbury in search for work. He worked for a tobacco processing company for some years before joining the British South African Police a the age of 22. He was an interpreter and then later a member of the police band. Eventually, he left the police force to join Bulawayo Cold Storage Commission where he became the leader of the African Dance Band of the Cold Storage Commission of Southern Rhodesia. His grandson Prince Musarurwa is also a musician. It is at the Cold Storage Commission that he composed and recorded the first version Skokiaan.
Afro Pop
