Mama Mosambiki

Liner notes

For most people Mozambique conjures up images of tragedy – war, famine and millions of refugees living on food aid.  The other side of this young Southern African nation, rich in art and culture, is hardly ever seen.

From the start the group’s leaders, Zena Baker and Gimo Remane, made a concerted effort to preserve the traditional rhythms of their home in Nampula.  Their birthplace, Illa de Mozambique, was one of Africa’s most cosmopolitan commercial centres and Eyuphuro’s music reflects a blend of musical influences as African traditions meet Arabic and Latin styles.  From these roots Eyuphuro write contemporary songs of love and social criticism, a sharply perceived commentary on life in Mozambique today.

Many of the songs focus upon the social and cultural backgrounds of relationships between men and women in modern Mozambique.  From one point of view the album can be seen as an attempt to deal with some of the negative attitudes of Mozambican menfolk.  Gimo Remane pleads for a woman’s heart, scorning those men who abandon their partners on any pretext (We Awake) yet emphasises the old traditions which leave a wife with nothing if a couple should divorce (Nifungo).  Zena Bakar’s philosophical view of the world, ‘olumwenku’, in the song Kihiyeny, portrays the resilience of women against the daily frustrations of society.   ‘Olumwenku’ is that part of the human condition which enables people to live with each other.

The woman-man relationship is characterised by a sequence of songs about love; such as the love she unselfishly gives to her lover (Mwanuni), to her husband (Nifungo, Nuno Maalani), to her children (Oh Mama), to society as a whole (Samukhela, Kihiyeny) and in return is rewarded by being abandoned, divorced, forgotten and ignored.