WITCH (We Intend To Cause Havoc)

WITCH (We Intend To Cause Havoc) were Zambia's biggest rock band in the 1970s and were at the forefront of a new genre called zamrock. They fused influences ranging from the Rolling Stones to Black Sabbath to James Brown, and blended them with traditional African rhythms and songs. At the height of their popularity, the band often needed police to keep fans at bay while their lead singer Jagari - whose name is an Africanization of Mick Jagger's name - roiled the crowd. As Zambia's economy stagnated and the country suffered from the AIDS crisis, WITCH disbanded. Jagari, now the only surviving member of the original lineup, retreated to a life of quasi-anonymity as a university music professor before being wrongfully arrested in Zambia's toughest hour. Now a man in his 60s, he spends his time mining gemstones.

WITCH didn't receive greater attention outside their home country until 2012, when Now Again Records reissued their entire discography. In 2016 Jagari began a collaboration with Dutch musicians Jacco Gardner and Nic Mauskoviç, and together with them WITCH is coming to Moods in November.