Bulawayo-based Afro-fusion band, Ditswi has produced their first album titled Soulful which could be a bombshell owing to its multi-lingual lyrical composition.
By Staff Reporter
Laden with social messages, the ensemble’s seven-track piece of art fuses different Afro beats coupled with unique variances of rhythm and tempo.
Ditswi spokesperson, drummer and songwriter Raymond Millagre Langa explained their “thorny journey” of compromise in coming up with the offering.
“While we were working on our first album, we played at different hangouts, including nightclubs in Bulawayo.
However, in several instances we played pro-bono in the name of auditioning without being paid a cent,” Langa said.
“As a young band, we faced several challenges to come up with the album because some of the members of our group left for greener pastures in Botswana and South Africa due to exploitation in the world of music and financial distress as music is not paying in Zimbabwe.”
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Ditswi band members include Langa, Patience Tauro (lead singer, percussions and songwriter), Lenon Tauro (bass guitarist), Blessing Sikhosana (keyboardist) and Shepard Hlongwane (lead guitarist).
Langa explained how a benevolent Catholic priest and music producer Father Maciek Maliki (SVD) from Poland took interest in the self-taught band’s art and offered to help for free.
“He recognised our talent and recorded our album Soulful at his state-of-the-art P3 studios in Hillside Bulawayo at no cost,” he said.
Patience also weighed in, explaining how veteran musicians in their neighbourhood also assisted in the attainment of their rare sound.
“Raymond’s uncle Miguel Langa and experienced jazz musicians in our neighbourhood imparted unique musical lessons to us; they mentored and criticised us and we also did our own research until we came up with a very uniquely rich Afro-fusion beat which we called Afro Rubato,” Patience said.
The album embraces an Afro-effusive element, linguistically-rich with use of seven languages namely English, Ndebele, Shona, Nambya, Tonga and Chewa spoken in Zambia and Malawi and Chopi, a language spoken in Mozambique.
The group has in the past produced demo tapes which they used to apply to perform at several music galas like the World Music Day sponsored by Alliance Francaise as well as Intwasa Festival.
Their ordeals as they produced the album included damage to their equipment — some of it borrowed — and borrowing money to travel to P3 studios to record.
Ditswi’s new offering could stamp their presence in the industry as it exudes the maturity of an experienced lot, yet the youngsters are nothing close to it yet.
