Alick Nkhata: Difference between revisions

| caption      =  

| birth_date    =  10 July 1922

| birth_place  = [[Kasama]]

| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1978|10|19|1922|07|10}}

| death_place  = [[Mkushi District]]

'''Alick Nkhata''' (10 July 1922–19 October 1978) was a popular [[Zambia]]n musician and broadcaster in the 1950s through to the mid-1970s. Nkhata, [[Zambia Broadcasting Services]] director, formed the Lusaka Radio Band, which was later called the [[Big Gold Six Band]]. The band promoted Zambian music, translating original rural recordings into Westernized scored music.<ref>[http://allafrica.com/stories/200709120140.html  Southern Africa: Nkhata's Contribution to Zimbabwean Music Significant]; The Herald (Harare) 2007-09-12</ref>

Nkhata was born on 10 July 1922 in the [[Kasama|Kasama District]] to a [[Tonga]] father and [[Bemba]] mother whose characteristics were later reflected in his art. He trained as a school teacher but when World War II broke out he enlisted with the East African Division and served in Burma.

After his retirement from the [[Zambia Broadcasting Services]] in 1974, Nkhata settled at his farm in [[Mkushi District]] where he continued to play music occasionally. The farm he bought was among what were called abandoned farmlands which white farmers had left in the hands of the lands board. On 19 October 1978, he was driving back home when he came into crossfire with Ian Smith’s Rhodesian military invaders and he was killed in the attack. His vehicle was sprayed with bullets, in what looked like an ambush in an area cordoned off during the attacks at [[Mkushi camp]], where Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZPRA) was training its guerrilla fighters. He was driving a Land Rover 109, which made him a likely target as that kind of vehicle was mostly used by security forces and government departments at that time.