MARCH 15, 2010, is the day Sam Mtukudzi died. March 15, 2011, is the day his AY band died.
A furious bust-up between the band and its manager, Sam’s step-sister Faith Kadzura, appears to have sounded the death knell for the band.
The band, which recorded two albums with the saxophone prodigy, was last week told to stop using the name AY with immediate effect, and it has now been renamed Afro Blaze.
The band publicly announced the name change at its weekly show at the Book Café last week.
Speaking on the sidelines of the show, Martha Badza, one of the band members, said: “Faith told us to stop using the name but we need to work.
“We love music. We are all full-time musicians, we’ve nothing else that we do except music, so we cannot stop playing.
“We’re going to continue doing our usual gigs at the Book Café, and around Zimbabwe.”
When Sam died in a car crash, his father Oliver Mtukudzi vowed to help the AY band continue Sam’s legacy.
But it now looks like the band which Sam once described as “like family” will now have to soldier on away from Tuku Music.
Bella Charlie, one of the band members, added: “For me, I just feel it’s something that can make me strong and move on because music is in me.
“We still move on as Afro-Blaze; she (Kadzura) told us we are going to wait for Mtukudzi to come back from his international tour and then we will have another meeting.
“We will wait for her call but for now we will perform as Afro-Blaze.”
Oliver Mtukudzi is on a two-month acoustic international tour in the United States.
Tuku Music publicist Shepherd Mutamba declined to comment on the development, saying he needed to talk to the band.
(The Standard)