Soak up the unique atmosphere of Jazz hosted by The Moving Jazz Cafe – watched live from The King’s Kraal in Bulawayo on the 8th August and at the Centurion Pub and Grill in Harare the next day.
Hosted by Josh Hozheri of Jazz105 and Mehluli Moyo of Tracy Mason Media, the Harare event which I attended was a huge success.
Like veteran music promoter, Josh Hozheri who was recently involved in a car accident, we both missed the Bulawayo show but am reliably informed that it also went down a bomb.
The first event was held at The Kings Kraal in Bulawayo on August 8, featuring performances by Gog’ Bekezela, the legendary Hudson Simbarashe, Vuyo Brown and guitar Maestro, Louis Mhlanga, who was the headline act.
I went to Centurion early enough to catch all the acts performing. The splendid P.A system and lighting were supplied by Divine Sounds and M.C. for the night was Witness Matema.
First on the stage was Sub-Sahara Tribe (formerly Summer Breeze) The most familiar faces in this group were those of Jevas Dzotizei, former Frontline Kids vocalist and percussionist, and bassist-cum-vocalist Vincent Kapepa. Other members included Chris Fifeni on keyboards, Tinashe Kakono , and Star Gurajena another vocalist. They played some familiar Jazz renditions from Louis Armstrong to Miriam Makeba
After Sub-Sahara Tribe;, Prudence Katomeni-Mbofana, came on stage with a bassist, a drummer and a keyboard player. Accompanied by two female backing singers, she treated us to some old and new songs which included BP (composed by Filbert Marova during their Jazz Invitation days), Bhuku, Ruva Rangu, Baba Bhoyi and Huya Tidanane. She was received with a resounding applause from the enthusiastic 700 plus audience who had graced the occasion.
It was now time for the internationally acclaimed super star, Louis Mhlanga. Playing all those hits that probably sounded as good as new to new audiences: “Alouis na Jenny, Kugarisana Nevame Zvakanaka, Usakanganwe Zuva Riye Ramangwana and many more. The audience was ecstatic. Dr Guramatunhu, a Jazz fanatic, who was in the audience could not resist this music. He left his chair from the VIP section to get on the dance floor. Louis,on this comp, , with minimal vocal accompaniment unloading sheer anger via demonizing guitar solos. Then he awakes, whipping his cash cow hit, Distant Lover, with light saber savagery. People looking on , get confused real quick as Mai Chisamba climbs onto the stage and starts to dance, which also exudes a certain type of magic. One that cannot be mass marketed. You have to know this instrumental tune backwards and blind in order to grind it to smithereens. (Distant Lover is a song which some Zimbabweans began to call Amai Chisamba after it was taken as Amai Chisamba’s theme song on her ZBC television show.)
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With that theme, the guitar virtuoso ended his set.
There is a mesmerising quality of Louis Mhlanga’s music which gives the listener an intricate tapestry of rhythm, melody and emotion that transcedes genres and captivates all its listeners. His guitar style, which he has honed over decades of performances is both classic and unique. The only other musician whom I think plays his guitar close to this style, is America’s George Benson.
I remember, one day in London, coming from college one afternoon., I heard from outside my flat, George Benson’s Breezing playing. I assumed that someone had turned on the radio, but to my surprise, when I got inside, it was Louis Mhlanga playing George Benson’s Breezing note for note on his guitar. With praise and admiration, I complimented him for being such a guitar virtuoso. Since then, Louis has never looked back.
Other acts on the Moving Jazz Café included Victor Kunonga, a Zimbabwean award-winning afro-jazz singer and songwriter who rose to prominence in 2004, after releasing his debut album Such Is Life. Hem thrilled the Jazz enthusiasts with Songs from his Uyo album.
Then enter Phillip Svosve and Jabavu Drive. They serenaded the mature crowd with their copyright Jazz hits and their own compositions which the patrons loved.
From the look of it, a space has been created for the mature audiences “That’s always been our strategic plan to grow the spaces because as the name says Moving Jazz Cafe, it’s the movement, yes the fame,” said Mehluli Moyo.
“So we’re not going to be stationed here only. We’re going to go into different towns and we’ll make sure of that, I think we’ve got a six-month calendar already that we’ve planned.
“So, we’ll be having regular shows with local artistes and also international artistes as well.
“Our strategy is to keep growing and growing and keep being innovative and all that. “
He added:“So, we’re not stopping here. We’re moving as fast as we can. But we want to take everybody along with us so that it’s an experience.
“Wherever we go, we’re going to make sure that we have international artistes, one or two, and make sure that at each and every concert, there are local artistes. We want the local artistes not only to perform but to mix and mingle with these international artistes when they come so that it also becomes a learning experience for the local artistes, especially the upcoming artistes.”
As Victor Kunonga put it: “One thing I can promise you is that jazz never dies. It lives the test of time. People come, people go. They come and go but in jazz, we just keep going.
“So, I’m excited to be part of this. Excited that we’ve got believers out there.We have evolved, those who last saw us during the Jazz 105 times, we are different now. We are a lot more advanced, a lot more exciting, a lot more innovation is now a part of this genre called jazz.”
Looks like Jazz is the new genre for mature audiences and is here to stay just like it is still in New Orleans. We will continue to watch this space.
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