Oliver Mtukudzi & Black Spirits
One World Theatre, September 16
Austin is becoming an international city, with universities, state government, and high tech jobs attracting the globe’s talented people. No shock, then, that the One World Theatre was populated by Africans who came to hear Oliver Mtukudzi. Not only is Tuku, as he is known, the most successful recording artist of his native Zimbabwe, but like fellow Zimbabwean Thomas Mapfumo, Tuku is known all over Mother Africa. In this dance-o-matic, 2000-01 season-opening performance, Tuku portended good things for the One World. With only 300 chairs, One World is less of a theatre and more of an intimate stage with tastefully rich Sonoman/Tuscan detailing, including organically grown flowers and neo-gothic wrought iron. To subsidize the luxury of artist proximity, two sets are sold separately, with some fans here paying for both shows and thus transferring the first set’s energy to the second. The full house was populated by world-music mavens, trustafarians, beat freaks, dreaded Anglos, and rich folk, because unlike Mapfumo’s working-man trancey-dancey Flamingo Cantina concert in July, fans literally threw balled-up notes of legal tender onstage as Tuku and the Black Spirits cranked up the intensity. Joining Tuku’s emotive acoustic guitar runs were electric five-string bass, three singers, electric guitar, drum kit, synth keys, and congas. After several vocal-driven, supergroove numbers, Tuku & Co. eased into his 1992 “Neria,” a reflective ballad written for a film about women’s rights in a chauvinistic world. Topical, since Tuku’s 42 albums often deal with subjects like child abuse, loss of indigenous culture, and AIDS. Like Mapfumo and Bob Marley, Tuku sings sad, real lyrics over an up beat, with songs taking precedence over instrumental pyrotechnics. Tuku dedicated the subsequent number to “those who are so far away from home.” Good thing One World has a large spring-loaded dance floor, because syncopated clapping and booty rotation signaled a thickening house party. Seats were removed, and finely dressed hardcores shook it next to the stage, drawing from oversized bottles of Heineken (curious, since the theatre doesn’t sell liquor). The ninepiece then embarked on another serious dance igniter, oozing the same hip-shaking power that fellow African Waldemar Bastos will bring to UT early next month. After a drum kit/conga closer, Tuku’s encore featured percussionist/theatre director Hartt Stearns, who was perhaps not adding much, but certainly confident that One World had enriched its tradition of bringing international talent to the small, select stage. Houston, Metroplex — eat your heart out.This article appears in September 22 • 2000.