Stewart Sukuma

Luis Pereira (born in 1963), known as Stewart Sukuma, is a Mozambican singer.[1] His stage name – Stewart Sukuma – means 'Rise Up' in Zulu and 'Push' in Swahili. He was born in Cuamba, Niassa Province in Mozambique.[2] Coming from a modest family he soon realised his passion for music and in 1977 he moved to the capital Maputo, where he learned how to play percussion, guitar and piano. In 1982 he joined a music group as a vocalist. He won the Mozambican prize for music – Ngoma – in 1983 and soon became one of the most played singers in the national radio stations of Mozambique, being described as "Mozambique's most popular male vocalist".[3] His major works include songs such as Felisminha, Xitchuketa Marrabenta, Sumanga and he sings in languages including Portuguese, English, Swahili, Echwabo, Coti, and Tsonga.

Early life and career

Born is a small town, he was a son of a truck driver with a modest income. He received his first guitar as a Christmas gift at a party for disadvantaged people and this was the launching pad for his professional career. After independence in 1975, Stewart started as a dancer for some music bands. When the death of his eldest sister, who had left two children and a house in Maputo behind her, drove him to the capital of Mozambique, in 1977, he learned to play percussion, the guitar and keyboard and started singing in a band in 1982.

In 1983 he recorded a song for the national radio station – Radio Moçambique – and in the same year he was awarded with the national prize for the best up-coming artist. His songs became soon played on the radio, and he became the 'singer of the people'. He eventually worked with the band Orchestra Marrabenta Star. Later he moved to South Africa where he released his album Afrikiti in 1995.[3]

Besides Orquestra Marrabenta Star he was part of several projects and bands among them, Alambique as a vocal/percussionist, Mbila as a vocalist and Formação 82 as a vocal/percussionist.

In 1998, Sukuma moved to Boston, Massachusetts where he attended Berklee College of Music being the first Mozambican to attend that institution. The Africa Scholars Program said "Berklee has recruited a team of world-renowned artists and music professionals to advise and to get the word out about this program. The board members are: Mulatu Astake, Richard Bona, Darius Brubeck, Angelique Kidjo, Bakithi Kumalo, Lionel Loueke, Leni Stern, Stewart Sukuma, and Eric Wainaina. With the help of our advisors, we aim to make this program open to as many talented musicians as possible.”

He performed at the Houston International Festival, and twice in Texas in 1998/9 with other African artists such as Angellique Kidjo, Abdullah Ibrahim, Oumou Sangare and Hugh Masekela. Since 2009 he has been touring Europe and Latin America extensively, performing in festivals such as the Lent Festival in Slovenia, Uferlos and the Kasumama Festival in Austria, the Festival der Kulturen in Germany and Tom de Festa and the World Music Festival in Portugal. In Brazil he has performed at the Itau Cultural in São Paulo and Flimar in Maceio and in South Africa he has taken part in the Cape Town International Jazz Festival.

Music

“In June, 7th of 1997 Billboard magazine gave him same standing as Papa Wemba and other highly acclaimed African musicians."

Sukuma combines traditional and contemporary Mozambican music and instrumentation to create energetic, danceable music with an Afro/Pop/Jazz sound. The melodies performed by Stewart Sukuma are a reflection of the varied ancestral influences of Mozambique, including the Islamic influence in the north of Mozambique, frequently visited in the past by the Arabians and the inevitable inheritance of the Portuguese spread out in the whole country. In 2010 he started a new musical project to encourage the youngsters to play and listen to Marrabenta, a popular/urban genre of Mozambican music.

Music festivals

Social projects

Sukuma links music and social outreach, working in conjunction with the National Campaign against AIDS, the National Election Commission, UNICEF, and other aid organisations to increase awareness about issues of health, domestic violence and human rights. In 2004, he co-founded Sem Crítica, a movement dedicated to empowering the youth by encouraging the use of their artistic skills and talents.

His persistence in the struggle for social responsibility, led him to start an individual campaign in several secondary schools in Maputo and Inhambane with its own project inspired by the words of US activist Martin Luther King "I have a dream" as a way to fight HIV / AIDS and other illnesses that victimise societies not only in Mozambique as in other parts of the world.

The project consists in using the dream as a purpose of effective struggle, in which the proposer has the unique obligation to overcome all obstacles as in a game.

The project was effective but without institutional support was unsustainable.

Stewart Sukuma believes that the fight against HIV / AIDS, malaria, violence, malnutrition, necessarily requires a good education of the children and also by training the illiterate adult population to generate their own income.

"A malnourished and poor child will never have a positive outcome in the school."

Mozambique is a rich country in natural resources and for this reason the population should be instructed to take benefits of this wealth in the pursuit for a better life that would greatly affect poverty and consequently would enable greater integration of the population in the fight against diseases and undermine economic growth.

Stewart Sukuma believes that through culture and tourism, the largest existing resources in the country, we can overcome the poverty line where we are today.

Stewart Sukuma supports the Casa do Gaiato through Academia do Bacalhau sponsoring one student permanently and also sponsors two scholarships to two children of 12 and 14 years.

Stewart Sukuma already joined internationally renowned actors in a campaign designed by him, 30 seconds to save a life, which was to say in 30 seconds thoughts and acts that could change the lives of people affected by HIV / AIDS. Artists like Jamie Fox, Jon Voight, Jeffrey Wright, Mikelty Williamson, Charles Shufford lent their services in support of this campaign which was broadcast on television in Mozambique for a year through the National Council for HIV/AIDS.

In 1995 Stewart Sukuma was the first Mozambican musician to become an activist in the fight against HIV / AIDS joining national level artists from all sections and with some success in favour of a campaign to combat this disease of the century.

At the democracy, Stewart Sukuma always had an important role in popular mobilisation for greater responsibility in authenticating democracy alert by vote. "Your vote makes Mozambique happy" is a song widely circulated and sung by various national interpreters who assisted in the struggle for democracy. Singing and mobilising the entire country, he was known as the mascot of national democracy.

Stewart Sukuma was appointed the first National Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF Mozambique on 14 December 2012, due to his commitment to the cause of children. In 2013, on behalf of UNICEF, he visited evacuees at Chiaquelane in Chókwè District, in temporary accommodation due to flooding of the Limpopo River.[4]

Discography

Feat: Hugh Masekela, Jimmy Dludlu, George Lee, Fana Zulu, Khanyo Maphumulo, Mauritz Lots ...

Feat: Lokua Kanza, Jimmy Dludlu, Ivan Mazuze, Elizah, Roger Moreira, Artur Maia, Sheila Jesuita, Werner Puntigam and Thiago Espirito Santo

Singles

Compilation

Awards

References

  1. ↑ "Mozambique's Stewart Sukuma: Good musicians make good money". BBC News. 6 June 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  2. ↑ "Stewart Sukuma – Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Broughton, Simon; Mark Ellingham; Richard Trillo (1999). World Music: Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Rough Guides. p. 581. ISBN 9781858286358.
  4. ↑ "Stewart Sukuma, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, visits flood victims in Mozambique". UNICEF Mozambique – Voices. 27 January 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  5. ↑ "Stewart Sukuma – Nkhuvu". CD Baby Music Store. Retrieved 8 June 2014.

External links