| True Jit | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1987 | |||
| Studio | Power Plant | |||
| Label | Jit Five Mango [1] | |||
| Producer | Robin Millar | |||
| Bhundu Boys chronology | ||||
| ||||
True Jit is an album by the Zimbabwean band the Bhundu Boys, released in 1987, with an international release in 1988. [2] [3]
The band supported the album with a North American tour. [4] True Jit sold around 30,000 copies in its first decade of release. [5]
Recorded in London, at Power Plant Studios, the album was produced by Robin Millar. [6] [7] [8] Breaking a promise to sing only in Shona, the band recorded some songs with English lyrics. [9] The Bhundu Boys later expressed regret over allowing their record company to dictate so much of the album's sound. [10]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [11] |
| Chicago Sun-Times | [7] |
| Robert Christgau | B+ [12] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |  [13] |
| MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide | [14] |
Robert Christgau wrote that "they're victims of crossover, compromising and accommodating when they should be expanding and appropriating... And they're still not half-bad." [12] The New York Times noted that the album "mixes in some South African jive and West African soukous, moving toward pan-African music." [6] The Times called it "a light, breezy foray" and a "harnessing [of] traditional shuffling rhythms and light, trilling guitar patterns to a modern pop sensibility." [15]
The Christian Science Monitor concluded that True Jit "is aimed at the American pop market, and loses in the process," but conceded that "the group still has the lilting rhythms, complex guitar countermelodies, and harmonically rich vocals." [16] USA Today stated that the band link "anti-apartheid and Pan-African messages with the joys of dancing." [17] The Financial Times deemed it an "exhilarating ... and barrier breaking fusion of Africa and the West." [18]
AllMusic wrote that the album sacrificed "the elegant simplicity of their earlier work for an over-produced, Westernized sound that alienated their core fan base." [2]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Jit Jive" | |
| 2. | "My Foolish Heart" | |
| 3. | "Chemedzevana" | |
| 4. | "Rugare" | |
| 5. | "Vana (The Children)" | |
| 6. | "Wonderful World" | |
| 7. | "Ndoitasei" | |
| 8. | "Susan" | |
| 9. | "African Woman" | |
| 10. | "Happy Birthday" | |
| 11. | "Jekesa" |
Zimbabwean music is heavily reliant on the use of instruments such as the mbira, Ngoma drums and hosho. Their music symbolizes much more than a simple rhythm, as the folk and pop style styled music was used as a symbol of hope for Zimbabweans looking to gain independence from Rhodesia. Music has played a significant role in the history of Zimbabwe, from a vital role in the traditional Bira ceremony used to call on ancestral spirits, to protest songs during the struggle for independence. The community in Zimbabwe used music to voice their resistance to their oppression, as one of the only weapons they had available to fight back with. In the eighties, the Music of Zimbabwe was at the center of the African Music scene thanks to genres such as Sungura and Jit. However, several performers were banned by state TV and radio leading to the closing of several music venues.
The Bhundu Boys were a Zimbabwean band that played a mixture of chimurenga music with American rock and roll, disco, country, and pop influences. Their style became known as jit, and is quite popular across Africa, with some international success, and has influenced later groups like Nehoreka and Mokoomba. British world music DJ Andy Kershaw said that at the height of their magical powers they were "...the single most natural, effortless, catchy pop band I've ever heard"; the BBC's John Peel famously broke down in tears the first time he saw the band perform live.
Jit is a style of popular Zimbabwean dance music. It features a swift rhythm played on drums and accompanied by a guitar. Jit evolved out many diverse influences, including domestic chimurenga, Congolese rumba and Tanzanian guitar styles.
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