Tich Maredza Band
Saturday, December 8, 2018
9pm $10
Swooping down from the vast Zimbabwean plains, Tichaona Maredza, a guitar in one hand, a drum in the other and an mbira in his teeth, arrived in Toronto in 2008. Singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, he quickly formed a group in December 2009. The Tich Maredza Band hit the circuit hard, veterans in a matter of months. Tich’s music, while rooted in Zimbabwean traditional styles, has a contemporary flair. A drummer/guitarist, Tich’s compositions have rhythmic drive, melodic intelligence, and lyrical messages of challenge, and hope. Indoors, outdoors, concert hall or dance hall, The Tich Maredza Band puts smiles on faces and feet on the floor.
Member Bios:
Tichaona Maredza (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, nyunga nyunga, marimba percussion, composer, lyricist). Tich Maredza as popularly known is self-taught musician who has performed with Oliver Mtukudzi and Thomas Mapfumo among many others.He is also a member of Okavango African Orchestra the 2017 JUNO Award winners for World Music Album of the year where he focuses on composing and performing music based on traditional instrumentation.
Larry Lewis (lead guitar), graduate of the Paris Conservatory, he plays guitar in several different styles and brings an improvisational heat to the band’s music.
Tichaona Gombiro (bass), Mr. Gombiro, drives the foundation of our groove with talented interpretation and deschooled intuition. He also performs with Masaisai. Tich Gombiro’s major influences include Oliver Mtukudzi, Bob Marley, the late Ashton “Sugar” Chiweshe, Thomas Mapfumo, Chamunorwa Mangudi (my first guitar tutor at Glen Norah Hills), Philbert Marova and Kenny Mwanza. He has always wanted to be a musician from an early age and made it his dream that he will play in a band one day. Now the day is here and for him there’s no stopping.
Andrew Mark (drums, mbira), a gifted drummer and student of Zim music. Andrew brings a special set of influences to the presentation and his style is solid, subtle, and original.
Ruben Esguerra (percussion) is the newest member of our band and offers blazing drive and quiet atmosphere to our sound.
