Transit Crew
Transit Crew is a Zimbabwean musical group formed in 1988. The group established itself as a formidable reggae outfit in Zimbabwe after the production of three albums - Sounds Playing, The Message and Money. They had a successful six months tour of Tokyo, Japan, in 1990.
Background
Formed in 1988, the original members of Transit Crew were Munya Brown (former Misty In Roots drummer who had stayed behind when the band visited Zimbabwe), the late Tendai Gamure aka Culture T and Emmanuel Frank, both on vocals, Munyaradzi Nyemba on bass, Samaita Zindi on guitar, Temba Jacobs on guitar and Anthony “Leba” Amon on keyboards.
This union resulted in the production of three albums — Sounds Playing, The Message and Money. The albums were well-received nationally and internationally and helped to establish Transit Crew as a formidable reggae outfit in Zimbabwe. A successful six months tour of Tokyo, Japan, followed in 1990.
Jacobs left the band in 1994 when South Africa achieved independence where he went to work for SABC as a reporter. Two of the original members — Culture T and Munya Nyemba — have since passed on, leaving the present Transit Crew with Amon and Zindi as the remaining members from the original crew.
Their Work
Support Act
In the early 1990s Transit Crew played alongside or acted as support act for Jamaican artists who visited Zimbabwe such as Culture, Dennis Brown, Ijahman Levi, Eric Donaldson and Shabba Ranks. They were the backing band for British-based reggae artist Benjamin Zephania in the late 1990s.[1]
They also performed with the late South African reggae icon, Lucky Dube, at the Macufe Festival in Bloemfontein before he was murdered in Johannesburg in 2008. In 2008, Transit Crew became the backing band for visiting Jamaican singer, Luciano in Zimbabwe. On 1 March 2010, Transit Crew successfully backed Sizzla Kalonje from Jamaica during his farewell from Zimbabwe party. On November 27 and December 4 2010, The Spillway venue at Lake Chivero in Harare and Pamuzinda were respectively set ablaze by British-based Jamaican artist King Sounds on his visit to Zimbabwe where he was backed by Transit Crew with the help of three female backing vocalists, Hope Masike, Thanda Richardson and Vimbai Zimuto and three men from the police band on the brass section.[2]
