User:Portia Gwanzura/sandbox

Born May 1967 Norton, Zimbabwe, Portia Gwanzura grew up in the village of Mhondoro where she lived a traditional rural Shona lifestyle. During her early years she was very much exposed to and embraced the music, rhythms and traditional dances of the Shona people that went onto strongly influence and feature in her musical career most notably throughout the 1990’s when her Hohodza became widely regarded as one of Zimbabwe’s most highly recognised and respected bands of their time.

As one of Zimbabwe’s first ever notable female band leaders, Portia’s early years in music were humble forming and creating the Hohodza band in 1992. Her vision at the time was to simply create gainful employment to her band members who were all school leavers at the time but also to celebrate and perform African dance, music and culture to the widest possible audience.

With a strong emphasis on traditional African music and dance she recruited no less than 15 band members as dancers, musicians and performers with her early performances comprising only the traditional instruments of Mbira, Marimba and drums to accompany her soon to be recognised dancing and singing talents of her band. As the band developed, they were eager to go to live shows and soon began making their name in their home town performing at local venues, hotels and festivals even prior to releasing their first album.

Her early success saw the band invited to play at the prestigious 5 star Sheraton Hotel in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare to a packed out crowd of residents and visiting guests which was most well received. Her soon to follow first album produced and recorded by the band Mudzimu Hautengwi came out in 1995. A distribution agreement through Grammar Records saw the album in the shelves of record stores throughout Zimbabwe and played on radio as the band’s music was quickly embraced by prominent Zimbabwean radio DJ’s such as Kudzi Marudza, Eric Knight, Peter Johns, Tich Mataz, Witness Matema, Joe Hussein, Admire Taderera amongst others all keen to promote her music.

1990s As the band became more prolific throughout the 1990’s they went on to release no less than 10 studio albums whilst touring and playing at major venues and stadiums throughout Zimbabwe alongside the likes of Zimbabwean legends Oliver Mtukudzi and Thomas Mapfumo. During this time the band had developed their sound to include electric guitars, keyboards and drums which although seemed a little controversial with the traditional Zimbabwean music fan base, it soon brought them success and recognition with new audiences with tracks such as Asipo Haapo, Chinyakare Makaisepi and Gwengwendere gaining momentum as live show favourites.

As the Zimbabwean media continued to cover and praise the band during the 90’s they were honoured by Zimbabwe’s leading national Newspaper the Herald after being voted 3rd best band in Zimbabwe in 1995 by their readers.

2002 In 2002 the band relocated to the UK and soon began to build their profile and recognition through live shows, festivals and workshops throughout the UK as they introduced their unique sound and performances to new audiences. They were soon discovered by radio 1 DJ John Peel who as a big fan claimed the band made “fantastic music” and were also invited by BBC Radio DJ Andy Kershaw to play live on his show in London.

2006 In 2006 Portia opened the Moonraker Pub in Leigh, Lancashire where her African themed bar and live music venue became a hugely popular meeting place not only for Zimbabweans throughout the UK but for her local community. It was then Portia decided to take a break with the music as the pub slowly took over.

2015 In June 2015 lead vocalist Simbarashe Mudzingwa sadly passed away and is greatly missed by many worldwide.

2020 Fast forward to 2020 and Portia Gwanzura and Hohodza band are back in the studio and have released a number of new singles with more to come! Watch this space where we hope you will join us in their next chapter.

Music Career

 * Mudumu Hautengwi
 * Dande
 * Nherera
 * Vabereki
 * Dzorai Moyo
 * Hupenyu
 * Tungwa Tungwa
 * Zvinoda Kushinga
 * Ndotamba Naniko
 * Chaitemura Chave Kuseva
 * Best of Hohodza
 * You're My Best Friend Cover (2020)
 * Kabhegi Remix (2020)
 * Kumhondoro (2020)
 * Anamhofu (October 2020)

Chronology
Portia was born in Zimbabwe, 1967 and was the first black female bandleader/manager in Zimbabwe and moved to the UK in 2002.

Her group “Hohodza Band” has been known for over 25 years in Zimbabwe and the UK (they were voted No 3 band in Zimbabwe, 2001). In 2003 Portia performed on BBC3 on a program called “Cyderdelic”. She was chosen to sing a song (lead vocals) originally done by The Beatles whilst Dave Stuart played the guitar!

Portia also earned fulsome praise of none other than the late DJ John Peel who described her band as making ‘fantastic music’ in 2004 and has been interviewed on BBC Radio Five Live alongside renowned author G.P Taylor, award winning artist Anthony Green and acclaimed lyricist Don Black. She has also played live on the BBC’s Andy Kershaw Show’.

Portia and her band recorded 12 albums with the eleventh being launched in England by then Junior Minister and MP for Leigh Andy Burnham.

She has performed for the Mayor of Wigan’s “Christmas Cheers” fund to raise money for her local community and whilst here in the UK in December 2002 Portia was chosen to represent “The Rights of African Women” as a whole and made representations in the house of commons to MP’s.

In the past, her group shared the stage with Soul singer legend ‘Clarence Carter’. Also she had an interview on the Esther Rantzen show on Granada TV where they went over her life story and achievements.

They have toured a few countries including the Orkney Islands where the band was well received and as a token of thanks were offered the luxury of staying in the local castle. In South Africa they performed together with Miriam Makeba at a festival in Thouyandou where this time they were offered to stay at the Royal Palace!

In her role as Hohodza Band owner Portia has a wealth of experience dealing with individuals in the media and at all levels of office. She has appeared as a guest on BBC Radio 1,2,4, World Service and various regional stations discussing her music and her life story.

Since being in the UK she has performed in a number of activities designed to integrate herself into the local community and to educate people in the UK about Africa and different cultures.

She has performed and help promote various anti-racism events such as the TUC ‘love Music, Hate Racism’ campaign and rally where they were the ONLY band performing in the day long event in Manchester. The band has supported many events celebrating sanctuary, cultural diversity and racial integration throughout the UK largely on a voluntary basis.