The 6th edition of the Stanbic Jacaranda Music Festival (SJMF) took take place in Harare from October 6 to 8 at Old Hararians Sports Club.
If you thought that Harare’s Music Festivals had died with HIFA, you have another think coming.
Manuel Bagorro, wherever he is, must be envious of what took place last weekend at the Old Hararians Sports Club. This was a strictly musical event. Unlike the now defunct HIFA which incorporated 6-days of music and workshop programmes that showcased local, regional and international arts and culture featuring theatre, dance, music, circus, street performance, fashion, spoken word , visual arts and some fireworks at the end of each day, last week’s music festival strictly featured a variety of local and international musicians.
Over a three day period starting on Friday the 6th of October till Sunday, the 8th , the festival saw a breadth-taking line-up of music artistes. The opening acts on Friday included Tammy Moyo and Mannex Motsi. Unfortunately, Daliwonga which had been billed as part of Friday’s programme did not appear due to, I am told, health issues., while the next day, it was Nicholarzw, Vera, Samuel Cosmic, King Her, Norman Masamba, Meet Jam featuring Willom Tight, Dino Mudondo and Mateo followed by Silent Nqo an increasingly remarkable guitarist and his Noisemakers, Lady Smith Black Mambazo and Selmor Mtukudzi. In all, there were over 30 artistes performing at the festival.
When you have such a range of great artistes in your line-up, it is difficult to select which ones to feature in a newspaper review of the concert as space is limited. However I will briefly comment on at least two acts from each night.
Starting on Friday night Tamy Moyo gave a scintillating performance as she flaunted her awe-inspiring and voluptious body covered in her body-hugging dress which showed off her electrifying dance moves as she belted out the hits: Ndibereke, Do My Own Thing, Kuteera, Kwandinobva and Zviroto which sent the crowd into a frenzy.
As if that was not enough, Mannex Motsi of the Reggaestra outfit showed the crowd that Jah music is still alive and kicking. He performed some of the hits he made while he was a member of Transit Crew such as Rozi plus a few more of his own compositions which included Tsamba, Ndiri Munhu Mutema, Uri Kure and Diamond In The Ruff. The Reggaestra band was well-rehearsed for this occasion. He finally killed it when he gave the already ecstatic crowd his own rendition of Buju Banton’s Buried Alive. He certainly evoked the glory days of sweet reggae music in the ghettoes of Harare and the crowd welcomed this sweetness.
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The next day, Saturday the 7th October saw several artistes, the list of which included Nicholarzw, Vera, Samuel Cosmic, King Her and Urban Grooves artist, Enoch Munhenga aka Ex Q aka Mr Putiti, featuring Takura who came on stage with his eight piece band that included three bearded sexy dancers all donned in white track suits.
Ex Q gave us songs from his latest album simply titled Enoch, which included Tseu Tseu, Firi Ghudhu (Feel Good), Haundide, Nyope and Sweeter. Half-way through the show, he introduced us to this teenage girl known as Kim in a song called Mashoko.. ExQ is a man with skills for days. He has shied away from the usual Sungura, reggae and dancehall rhythms to come up with his own Urban grooves style. Cool, calm and collected as he sang through hit after hit, the crowd started to eat out of his hand, singing along to every word, raising the level and expectations with every song. Ex Q’s infectious ability as a song-writer continues to shine through.
Next, was the South African a-cappella group, Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Although not accompanied by musical instruments, the group reminded us of their days with Paul Simon with songs like Homeless. However, today’s youth who do not know the history behind this group failed to connect with this excellent choral outfit.
Then came yester-year musician, Mateo, who has now turned religious. He gave us only three songs. He went on stage after a prayer backstage. He was backed by a very tight band of musicians who also backed Willom Tight and Dino Mudondo. After that the crowd was taken back to the early days of urban grooves. These guys are not strangers. It’s just that they had parted ways in pursuit of different things. They were the 1990s Rockstars. The star-studded music group Mateo and Friends which comprised Matthew Kaunda (Aka Mateo), Willbroad Muponda (aka Willom Tight) and Dino Mudondo made the 90s memorable with their soulful and rooted songs such as Pamuhacha, Watoda Rugare and Asambe Africa. Mateo proved once again, with his outstanding performance that he is still special. The Jacaranda Festival brought these artistes together and when I spoke to Dino and Willom after their performance, they told me that they are already working on an album which will be released this year before Christmas.
On the last day of the Festival, artistes featured included Gary Tight, Gwevedzi, Vuyo Brothers, Birckhead, In-Total, Alexio Kawara and The Shades of Black, South Africa’s Judith Sephuma and Ammara Brown. Ammara Brown sent the crowd wild when she belted the hits we are all familiar with. These included Mukoko, What You Want and Bhachura. There is no doubt that she won the hearts of old and new fans at the festival.
ALEXIO Kawara, was on stage around 7p.m. He went straight into the songs that we have known Alexio for which included Amai, Unombozviitirei, Chihwande hwande, Nyaya YeRudo and Shaina, the song that made him famous.
In 2005, Kawara released his third album Pfimbi Yangu (My Secret Place). The album earned him two National Arts Merit Awards (NAMAs) and two Zimbabwe Music Awards (ZIMAs). Under his own recording label, Alexio Entertainment, he released his fourth album ‘Kana’ in 2008. It included songs such as Shaina and Karwiyo Aka. Shaina earned Alexio another ZIMA for Song of the Year. In 2011, at the first edition of the Victor’s Awards, Kawara scooped the Most Promising Musician Award.
To close the festival was Judith Sephuma a multi-award-winning jazz, afro-soul and gospel singer and musician from South Africa. Over the years, Sephuma has released several successful albums such as One Word, My Worship Live, and A Cry, A smile, A Dance which is a triple platinum selling album. We were treated to songs from these albums. The crowd appreciated her performance. She was later joined on stage by Sun El Musician who also thrilled the audience.
That aside, in my opinion, the festival was a great success and indeed it is growing from strength to strength. The promoters gave it their best to ensure that it would be flawless. The artistes came to the stage on time as scheduled. Security was tight. The stage, sound system and lighting were on point. The venue, Old Hararians Sports Club was the right choice. It is suitable for this kind of activity. Where the festival really shines is the attention to detail. The organisers pulled out all the stops, using art installations and creative stage design to transform an otherwise desolate sports club into a stunning party setting. Setting up food market stalls and beer outlets on these hot sunny days was a brilliant idea. To put it simply, the venue is a creative’s wet dream. The sound system–(P.A system) was suitable enough to sustain large, outdoor concerts. For three days and three nights, the P.A. held up without any hitches.
I am not sure what the logistics were as, apart from exchanging brief greetings, I did not have a chance to talk to Walter Wanyanya or Tariro Chaniwa (aka Tariro neGitare), the organisers of the festival. Tariro asked me to give an honest opinion of the organisation of the festival which I have given above. However, I would have loved to see Mokoomba, WinkyD and Jah Prayzah at this festival. No doubt, the crowd would have been even bigger. In my opinion, a video screen showing the performances to those who wanted to remain at a distance from the stage would have also been helpful.
.According to Tariro Negitare: “The festival has set itself strongly in the region and has plans to continue with that trajectory. A big thank you to all our sponsors who have made this possible including main sponsor Stanbic Bank supported by TDW, NICOZ Diamond, Castle Light, Nyaradzo and Mwendo Africa.” .
All in all, the three-day Stanbic Jacaranda Music Festival was a success, with performers giving it their all. I am already looking forward to next October for yet another SJMF festival with a wider choice of local, regional and international groups.
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