Sabastian Mbata the late GREAT drummer of the Blacks Unlimited was born in 1960 in Harare and grew up in the sprawling surburb of Mbare which was home to many great musicians of Zimbabwe. In his colourfull carrer he had a stint with a resident band which used to play at Murombedzi then popularly known as kuFive Maira. Back then he was acclaimed of playing very well the drums of the hit rock song Get Ready recorded by rock band Rare Earth. Sabastian Mbata also preformed with an outfit called Dr Footswitch in the 70s he also played in the 80s with the band Talking Drum then fronted by Michael Lannas of the Hapana Mazwi fame. He later played for Thomas Mapfumo & The Blacks Unlimited he toured the country and the world with Thomas Mapfumo where he had exciting shows in Japan the USA and many other countries. The recording Live @ SOBs in New York is full testimony of the rare talent Sabastian had on drums. In one of his last shows before his death Sabastian had an excellent show with the Blacks Unlimited on the 17th of April 1994 @ the HICC in Harare beamed to the nation live on ZTV as that was to say GOODBYE to all of us. He passed on the 28th of May 1994 at the age of 33. RIP vaMbata RIP Gamba reChimurenga Music. [Photo courtesy of Debra Mbata - Resource material - Courtesy of Debra Mbata, Chamu G Chiwurawa & Noel Mugugu].
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 07:15:18 +0000
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