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John Wizards

John Wizards might have started in Maputo. It also might have started in Cape Town. It certainly owes a debt to Dar es Salaam. These are the three places that band leader and producer John Withers either travelled through or lived in, and he feels have had a marked influence on his musical output. They also happen to be cities in which Emmanuel Nzaramba, John Wizards’ Rwandan singer has lived too. John met Emmanuel while he was working as a car guard, outside a coffee shop in Cape Town. Emmanuel noticed the guitar strapped to John’s back, and they began to talk about music. Emmanuel had moved from Rwanda to Cape Town to become a musician, and John told him that he had been writing music requiring vocals. They didn’t get around to recording that time: Emmanuel quit his job, lost his cellphone, and moved to a new place and lost contact. A year later (2012) John moved house and had got together some new songs and by chance ran into Emmanuel again: they were living in the same street. John invited him to his place to listen to reggae band The Congos, It turned out that he didn’t like them, but he did like some of the new songs John had written. He would listen to them once or twice, and start singing. The outcome of these evenings can be heard on their debut album. During this time John also gathered together an ensemble of friends to help translate these songs into their live show, which can be seen in the accompanying photo.

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Screen Shot 2016-04-05 at 16.26.04
30-01-2014
John Wizards
Muizenberg
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ZIQ337_JohnWizards_Muizenberg
16-12-2013
John Wizards
Muizenberg
ZIQ337
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Screen Shot 2016-04-05 at 16.43.35
08-09-2013
John Wizards
Live videos
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ZIQ336_JohnWizards
02-09-2013
John Wizards
John Wizards
ZIQ336
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Screen Shot 2016-04-05 at 16.49.34
24-07-2013
John Wizards
Lusaka By Night
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ZIQ331_John_Wizards_LusakaByNight
17-06-2013
John Wizards
Lusaka By Night
ZIQ331
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ZIQ370_MUTWENTY
04-09-2015
Various Artists
µ20 (20 Years Of Planet Mu)
ZIQ370
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  • Buy the 3LP at The Vinyl Factory
ZIQ362_LOPM
17-11-2014
Various Artists
Life On Planet Mu
ZIQ362
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