Busi Ncube to launch new album in Byo

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MUSICIAN Busi Ncube, now based in Oslo, Norway, will next Friday launch her latest album titled Usiko (Traditions) at the Bluez Café in Bulawayo.

MUSICIAN Busi Ncube, now based in Oslo, Norway, will next Friday launch her latest album titled Usiko (Traditions) at the Bluez Café in Bulawayo.

By Staff Reporter

Busi Ncube

The launch will also feature exciting soul sisters of Bulawayo — singer and dancer Sandra Ndebele and women’s accapella group Nobuntu.

“Busi will be backed by the beautiful voices of her twin sister Pathi, Carmen Hwarari, Sihle Hlaseka and Sibusiso Mhlanga,” Penny Yon of Bluez Café said.

The 10-track album was recorded at Tenth District Music in Bulawayo.

Beyond being another step up in her career ladder which includes countless performances in different parts of the world and the recording of the albums Malaisha (2007) and Salulandela (2011), Usiko is special as it calls attention to the victims of the devastating floods triggered by El Niño weather events in early 2017, drowning crops and leaving villagers homeless and hungry.

“All proceeds from the launch will go towards supporting the victims of the flood, who Busi is already helping,” Yon said.

Since becoming known early in her career for her strong contribution to the iconic band Ilanga in the 1980s, Ncube has forged ahead strongly in her career, with her music moving people and receiving acclaim both at home and abroad. She has met with success in Europe where she proudly carries the Zimbabwean flag and where she launched Usiko in April.

Now back home, the album launch and performance at Bluez Café on Friday promises to be a starburst of woman power, an exciting event with vivid and colourful deliveries by some of Bulawayo’s most popular women artists.

Building on the legacy of Bulawayo’s rich cultural tapestry and in partnership with artists and other cultural partners, Bluez Café was established by Nhimbe Trust to create a vibrant and multi-dimensional cultural hub in the centre of the city, a space for artists and arts practitioners; a space to create, a space for free expression of cultural identity; a space of tolerance, inclusion, unity, respect and dialogue.

Bluez Café is an initiative of Nhimbe Trust, in cooperation with the Youth Contact Centre.