Zimbabwean guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi has an ew recording entitled Nhava. It is the latest installment in Heads Up International's critically acclaimed Heads Up Africa series.

Mtukudzi says the new album - named after the Zimbabwean word for “carrying bag” - is a satchel filled with nuggets of advice, encouragement and wisdom for travelers on the journey of life as they make their way through an often-perilous world.


“Every song on this album has something to teach about life, something to remind you and encourage you about what is important in life,” says Mtukudzi. “All of these ideas are universal. They are the same for every human being, regardless of their culture or their environment.”

Nhava rises above the often troubled dynamics shaping the socio-political landscape of his native country and the surrounding region, and instead addresses the most universal aspects of the human condition. “For me, politics is about people who have special interests and personal agendas,” says Mtukudzi. “I’m not trying to write political songs. The moment you do that, you start standing in favor of a particular person, or a particular party, or a particular class of people. But music is supposed to be for everybody. The moment things become political, you’re segregating people and groups. You can’t be political without establishing opposite ideas and opposite sides.”

[Read the CD review here and you can also buy Nhava].