AMON MVULA – CD SLEEVE

“We must make music the way we’re supposed to make it! We must make music a universal language that will bring people together…..” – Amon Mvula

Deeply rooted in his African soil, Amon Mvula was perhaps destined from birth to look beyond his immediate environment. He reflects a rich, cultural diversity, expressing the sounds of an area, a region, a country – extending to a continent, and then the world. He represents the human part of being.

Born in the rural town of Messina, in the Northern Province of South Africa, to a Venda mother and a Malawian father, Amos was from an early age exposed to different cultures. After schooling in Malawi and Zimbabwe, he returned to South Africa and soon began exploring his musical interests, first as a drummer and then a singer.

His first album, released in 1996, [Makorokota vol.1 – meaning ‘congratulations’], sold 25000 copies within first three weeks and in 1997, his second album was awarded a gold disc. In 1998 and 1999, he took on the task of producing his own works, and for two consecutive years, won the South African Music Award, for the Best Venda album.

With this, the fifth release, we celebrate the diversity and wholeness of this universal being.

When doing his studio recordings, Amon pictures himself in a “stadium full of people, jumping and screaming”. It is precisely this energy and sincerity that shines throughout, however, more remarkable is his ability to draw on and fuse a variety of musical genres and styles, often within a single song.

Inspired predominantly by the music of West Africa and the Caribbean, he remains rooted in his choice of role models, praising the likes of Simon Nkabinde [SP] Mahlatini and Hugh Masekela, for their honesty and open-mindedness. He also believes in returning the loyalty of his fans. Mostly he praises his late parents who‘ left him with the knowledge of respect, caring and putting other peoples problems first before mine’.

He praises the differences of people. With a strong identity, he emphatically believes in a way of crossing over. Musically and even reflected in his language skills – believing this a way of understanding through communication.

Amon Mvula is a man with a big heart who believes in the whole-hearted truth of expression. He plays music to “entertain – to listen, to dance and to have fun.” More than this, he was perhaps destined from birth to represent a rich diversity – an area, a country, a region and to draw from the world. His skill lies in the way he brings it together.