Zivanai is one of the finest guitarists ever to have come out of Zimbabwe. Although he is primarily a guitarist, Zivanai is an amazingly versatile musician, performer and teacher of Zimbabwean music and culture. He is also a vocalist and plays trumpet , keyboards, mbira and marimba among other instruments.
Growing up, Zivanai shone very brightly as a soccer player, sharing the pitch with names that can be counted among the greatest players to have emerged from Zimbabwe such as Vitalis Takawira, Nqobizitha Ncube, Patrick Mandizha, Claudius Zviripai and many others. Like his late brother Darlington, he thought he was destined to be a soccer player. But one day he emerged from a hospital bed where he had been confined for a couple of months only to realize that he could never walk normally again …….and he would never be a soccer player again. " This was a blessing in disguise! " says Zivanai whose mother says that when he was just a few months old, he would grab knitting needles and pound with amazing rhythm on anything from plates to human heads! When he was still in primary school, Zivanai got a chance to learn music theory form one of his father's colleagues at The Zimbabwe Republic Police Band and he never looked back. He got his hands on everything from the recorder to the accordion, from marimba to ngoma (drum).
In his early high school days, he was to fall in love with brass music and by the time he was 16, he had established himself as one of Zimbabwe's top trumpet players. It was at this age that he first got a taste of the professional music scene playing in various orchestral groups and getting hired to play on many high profile recording sessions as a trumpet and keyboard player. In 1998, he joined the group EGEA GOSPEL TRAIN, which consisted of singers such as Carol Chivengwa, Ivy Kombo, Jackie Madondo and others. It was while playing with this group that Zivanai met Clive Mono Mukundu (now lead guitarist with Oliver Mtukudzi and the Black Spirits) who inspired him to take up the guitar more seriously. In no time at all he was being featured on countless recordings as a guitarist.
Zivanai joined Thomas Mapfumo in 2000 as trumpet player, but he was to find himself playing drums, keyboards and guitar as well while touring in Zimbabwe, Europe, The U.S.A. and Canada. " I got to share the stage with people like Ziggy Marley, Maxi Priest, Buddy Guy, Hugh Masekela and many other great performers as well as being in the studio with people like Wadada Leo Smith, Henry Kaiser and Woody Lee and I realized that the sky was the limit for me if I put myself to it fully " says Zivanai . He fell more and more in love with the guitar and realized it is the instrument he was meant to play!
After leaving the Blacks Unlimited, Zivanai partnered with his cousin Spencer, a long time musical ally, to start OneleftSound Studio . This humble enterprise was where such coveted Zimbabwean artists like Fungisai Zvakavapano, Victor Kunonga, Langton Deo and Betty Makaya were to rise from. Many other artists were to come thorough Zivanai 's hands on their way to stardom and he became one of the most highly respected studio engineers and music producers in Zimbabwe. His list of clients also included Lubumbashi Stars and La Rhumba Musica from DRC as well as others from Zambia and Botswana. His success with OneleftSound Studio paved way for the rise of many other smaller studios in Zimbabwe, including DAT STUDIOS and TMC where Zivanai also worked on projects by such artists as Vhuyo Mokeona, Lundi, Thembenkosi, Buhle from South Africa as well as others from Zimbabwe.
Zivanai has produced his own album, MURAMBIWA, featuring the song 'Ndava Kuenda' which stayed for a couple of weeks on top of the Radio Zimbabwe charts in 2003. In May 2004, he produced and performed "MUSATISIYE", in which he told a history of Zimbabwe through song, live at the African Music Series in New York City, organized by "Where's The One " Productions. Today, he is currently the guitarist with the band PANJEA (an amazing outfit!) as well as working the New York City music scene with many other bands and artists, from RnB to Reggae, Blues and other genres, as a session guitarist.