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The Bantuz Band

Music of Southern Africa

About Me

The Bantuz Band is based in Portland, Oregon and founded by Loveness Wesa of Zimbabwe. Rooted in the traditional music of Southern Africa, Loveness Wesa's original Afro-pop is played on contemporary instruments. The Bantuz are Wesa's house band, so named as an expression of her belief that it is the affinity for the music and culture that makes someone a Bantu, rather than the color of their skin, ethnicity or nationality. It is a deep part of Wesa's dream to nurture a group of multi-cultural performers who use the arts to break the international barriers of white-supremacy, racism, sexism, xenophobia, anthropocentrism, national imperialism and neoliberal capitalism. The term Bantu does not refer to one particular ethnic group. Instead it is a general term used in linguistics to explain a very large language grouping of over 500 languages in sub-Saharan Africa starting from northern Cameroon stretching over the east coast of Africa and all the way down to South Africa. The word Bantu simply means “people”, as this is reflected in many of the languages of this group. A common characteristic of Bantu languages is that they use a stem form such as -ntu or -tu for 'person', and the plural prefix for people in many languages is ba-, together giving ba-ntu "people". The dispersion and migration of the first Bantu people is one of the largest migrations in human history. This migration began in about 1000 BC and continued until the 3rd or 4th century AD that started in Southeastern Nigeria. The initial motivation for their migration continues to be a point of contention among scholars. However there are several prospective factors such as overpopulation that encouraged people to move in order to practice agriculture. Another could be that they were in search of fertile land. Internal conflicts within their communities or external attacks by their neighbors.
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Member Since: 6/15/2008
Band Members: Loveness Wesa is the first female artist in her native country Zimbabwe to write, choreograph and produce dance theatre shows performed by mostly women. Wesa has traveled the world as a cultural ambassador for Zimbabwean women artists, bringing to her audiences not only traditional African dancing, and singing but she also does drumming which used to be a taboo for women in her culture to be found behind the drum, she is also spreading a message of peace, freedom and understanding through her works. She was first exposed to the traditional music and dance of her country as a small child watching her mother, aunt and grandmother who were Sangomas – the traditional spirit mediums who use song and dance to channel ancestral spirits. She has toured around Africa and Europe and the Americas. In 1998 Loveness founded the Kgotso African Dance Theatre (now known as Kgotso African Cultural Arts) as a vehicle for bringing works by women and youth artists to Zimbabwe’s stage. She merges a variety of traditional dances from throughout the African continent to create a coherent story that is comprehensible to any audience. She has performed for people like the Queen of England, Prince Edward, South African president Thabo Mbeki, the president of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe, George Bush senior, Bono, Portland Mayor Porter, Paul Rusesa Bhagina of Hotel Ruanda, the Hawaii congressman Neil Abercrombie and many more official delegates. Wesa has also shared a stage with artist like Khanye West, Wutang Clan, Snoop Dogg, and Oliver Mutukudzi. She is also available for tours with her band and her dance troupe; she is also available for workshops and private classes, in dance, drumming, singing, story telling, basketry weaving and sadza batik. “I play Afro-Pop songs with roots from traditional Ndebele/Zulu, Shona, Sotho and Venda music. I learned this unique style from my Venda great grandfather, Sotho grandmother, Ndebele mother and Shona father. I have adopted the music to modern instruments creating a sound that is uniquely rare, beside the music I learned growing up; my biggest influences had been Miriam Makeba, Harry Belafonte, Thomas Mapfumo, Dorothy Masuka, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Mahotela Queens and Oliver Mutukudzi”. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eric Orem, our marimba player, started playing Zimbabwean music when he was 10. At 13 he learned to play the mbira dzavadzimu (thumb piano) and from that point there was no turning back. I focus on a just few instruments, namely marimba, mbira, drum set and various African percussion instruments. I make marimbas and mbira for a living in Portland, OR under the name Padauk Dust. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Saxophonist, Stuart J Fessant, has been playing music in Portland for over 20 years. In the early 90s he began working with Kpani Addy and began studying different African styles. In the mid 90s he worked with Brothers of the Baladi, learning Middle Eastern rhythms and melodies. He has been working with Loveness since 2003. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ David Jacob, our drummer, grew up in a musical household and has been playing percussion most of his life. He first began playing African music professionally in 1994 with a band called Azumah from South Africa, under the training of Dumi Hlangwane. Since then, he has played in several different musical projects and continues to study different styles of world music. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dorothy Chitembure-Wright, our backing vocalist, comes from Zimbabwe. Her creative passion comes through her poems, music and the two books that she has just completed which she is hoping to publish soon. She has a CD that consists of gospel music and poems. Besides being a musical artist she has performed TV dramas, Theatre. She was the recipient for the YWCA Woman of Achievement Award in 2005 for her passion to help African women. She is currently a Philanthropy speaker. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bass player Todd Rangland grew up in Southern Oregon and started to play bass and guitar at an early age. He played many different styles of music while concentrating on classical and jazz while attending Southern Oregon State College. During this time, he played with Venezuelan artist Irene Ferrera and jazz guitarist Herb Ellis. He then began to travel the world looking for new rhythms and sounds to incorporate in his own music. He latter settled in Tokyo where he composed soundtrack music and worked as a journeyman bass player. This led him to playing Latin jazz in Stee Loza’s band and later with jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell. He currently resides in Portland, Oregon working as a teacher. Musically his time is spent composing music and playing bass. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Record Label: Unsigned
Type of Label: None