Hardly anything is better guaranteed to bring a smile to one’s face over
breakfast coffee than a Daily Telegraph obituary. Try this, from today’s
paper. The subject is Hukwe Zawose, an East Aftrican singer. “Almost
single-handedly, Zawose breathed new life into the ancient traditional music
of the Wagogo people. His extraordinary five-octave vocal range, which
enabled him to switch between a high feminine soprano and a deep sub-bass
throat singing, and his exquisite playing of the ilimba thumb piano or the
one-stringed izeze fiddle, mesmerised audiences around the world.”
The obituary concludes: “In Tanzania, Zawose lived a traditional life with
his four wives and 15 children.”
May he rest in peace with his ilimba thumb piano.