Archive for November, 2007
Wednesday, November 7th, 2007
United Kingdom-based gospel musician John Mutoko has every reason to be ecstatic after bouncing back with a third album Mwari Vakatendeka which is doing well on the market.
The album, which was recorded at Shed Studios and is being marketed and distributed by the Zimbabwe Music Corporation (ZMC), has already sold more than 3 000 copies in a week — a sizeable number for an upcoming artist. Better known as “Mr Fantastic” by his fans, Mutoko’s album opens with the track Shumba YavaJudha (The Lion of Judah) which is a divine explanation of who Jesus is. He sings ‘Musamujairira ndiye She werugare’ — asserting Jesus as a saviour.
The second song Tsvakai Jesu Murarame has proved the most popular on the album as it occupies the sixth position on Radio Zimbabwe’s Top 20 hit parade. The track explores how families are ripped apart following ill advice from parents who are supposed to be exemplary. The bottom line in the song is that parents should teach their children the Christian way of life in order to eschew the devil’s machinations.
Mutoko also looks in the negative on people who use juju (traditional potions) on their relatives so that they do not get married. “It doesn’t matter if I am talking about my real tetes (aunts). The most important thing is I am preaching the gospel through singing,” Mutoko said. The universality of death is explored in the song Pasi Idandaro that reminds everyone - whether rich or poor - that they will die one day.
He said he was touched by the death of one of his friends who was also a college mate in Havana, Cuba who died after spending 10 years at university furthering his education — a feat that asserts the universality of death. He dedicated the song Mweya Wangu Chizorora on all who have departed highlighting how many die before they have achieved everything they would have been planning on earth. “Like Jeremiah (the Biblical prophet), I feel the fire burning in my bones and as long as I have breath in me I will sing the truth of the gospel unto death.
“I am the voice for the voiceless, I bring hope to the hopeless and I also bring encouragement to the discouraged. I sing the truth and its unfortunate some are not happy to see the truth being exposed,” said Mutoko.
Musandityire is centred more on Mutoko’s life. “But because I am an over comer who has been bought by the blood of Jesus don’t fear for me because the Lord will take me through,” he said. His previous albums include 1 Chronicles 4v10 and 1 in which the song Jabez had a very good reception. In this song, he encourages people to pray the prayer of Jabez so that their territories may be increased by the Almighty. Samuel 7v12 (Ebenezer) was the first album released in 2004 and the song Mwari Vachandivaraidza explains how Mutoko felt when he lost his mother in 1996 only to learn of her death after six moths.
The Valley of Dry Bones (fourth album) is expected to be released next year in August.
Via The Herald
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Monday, November 5th, 2007
Fans at home want one sound, fans abroad another. Youssou N’Dour tells Peter Culshaw why it’s hard being Africa’s most famous singer
The man opposite me in a London hotel like a dapper businessman but he’s been described by Rolling Stone as “perhaps the most famous singer alive”, by Time as one of the planet’s 100 most influential people, and by Peter Gabriel as having a “voice of liquid gold”.
I’m talking with Senegal’s Youssou N’Dour about his unique cultural position as a bridge between the West and Africa. We discuss the street scene in Dakar, Senegal’s capital, where the tourist market has ethnic rugs and drums, while the Senegalese go to the market next door to buy iPods and posters of Madonna. The locals and the outsiders both have a powerful fantasy of the other, a cultural dynamic that often makes life uncomfortable for N’Dour.
“More and more these days, the rest of the world loves music from Africa that is pure, traditional and powerful, whereas the Senegalese always want me to do something modern, with keyboards and guitars.”
His new album, Rokku Mi Rokka, sees him leaning towards the modern but his previous, acoustic, album, Egypt (2004), highlighted the dilemma. Listeners outside Africa adored the record, it sold well over 100,000 copies and picked up a Grammy, a Mobo and a Radio 3 World Music Award.
“The album wasn’t initially liked at all in Senegal – although they were proud when it achieved such acclaim, and then they started listening to it.”
It’s not always easy to be in his position, he tells me – he was criticised for his role in Amazing Grace (2006), which chronicled William Wilberforce’s efforts to end slavery. N’Dour played the small part of African abolitionist Olaudaqh Equiano, which was seen by many as tokenistic, as was his appearance at Live 8, which didn’t feature other African artists on the main stages.
“It’s difficult. With these situations I usually think it’s better to do something than nothing. People think that because I’m well known I could have changed how a Hollywood film was made, but that’s not true.”
He says the experience has made him more interested in producing a film in Senegal himself. As far as Live 8 goes, he now says “If they do something like that again without Africans – which was a mistake – I’m not the one who’s gonna step in.”
Now 48, N’Dour has been in top Senegalese bands since the age of 14, when he joined the Star Band, who played the popular Cuban-influenced music of the time. By the early 1980s, he was forging a new style, mbalax, which incorporated more traditional Senegalese elements, in his group Super Etoile de Dakar. The only initial problem was the opposition of his father, a designer.
“It was a difficult time, but he eventually gave his authorisation to me to be a musician.” His father is still a big influence and keeps him from becoming arrogant: “It’s very difficult to see my father if I’ve done anything bad.”
N’Dour has seven children, the eldest is 22 and studying for an MBA in the US. How would he react if one of his children announced he or she wanted to be a musician? “I would say it’s a difficult path, but if they had a big talent, why not?”
N’Dour rather downplays his business empire: “I have a radio station, which I hope to be a place to encourage democracy and liberty, and a club. But they still lose money.”
He is more proud of his work combating Aids and malaria in Senegal. Such is his stature, there are many who have said he should run for president of the country, but he says, “I think I’m in a better position where I am. I can support and sometimes denounce. To be a politician you have to learn to lie – to be an artist you have to be honest.”
Since his biggest hit, Seven Seconds, the 1994 duet with Neneh Cherry, some of his records have seemed over-produced, as labels such as Sony have attempted to replicate the single’s million-selling success.
“I’ve learned enough to produce myself,” he says, and tells me he’s happier on his current label, Nonesuch, which is more of a boutique art label.
“It’s not that anyone exactly told me what to do before. The pressure was more subtle than that. It was more the context.” On Nonesuch, he feels that he is competing with fellow label artists such as the composer John Adams or the jazz guitarist Pat Metheny, artists who have “integrity and respect”, like the label.
If Egypt was an album of deep religiosity, an exploration of his mystical Islamic faith, Rokku Mi Rokka, which he produced in his own studio in Dakar, is, he says “more fun. I feel happier – it’s more a dancing record. The title means ‘You give me something, I give you something’, and that’s the message of the album: we have received a lot from the developed world, but remember that we brought a lot, too.”
Via www.telegraph.co.uk
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Monday, November 5th, 2007
Botswana Chorus, originally formed as an all-star group of singers, has now regrouped to investigate avenues of marrying classical music with contemporary folk Botswana music.
They plan to stage a concert at a venue yet to be decided, even as they seek confirmation with Westwood International School and Satchmos where they performed two weeks ago.
Botswana Chorus teamed up with Jazz Impromptu to offer renditions of traditional songs, among them Mohapeloa’s, Mosadi and Rampholo Molefhe and Tsholofelo Giddie’s Meno A Masweu.
The group will be raising funds for its members to attend an international choir festival in Durban, South Africa next month and to do a recording, which, according to the group’s mentor, Reggie Kopi, should be completed by the end of year. In the group are talented singers including soprano, Gladys Ngwebula, baritone, Senabe Senabe and soloist, Janet Ndavu.
Kopi is expected to offer an interpretation of Mozart’s Mon Piu Andrai whilst Ndavu will do Queen of the Night by the same composer.
Via Mmegi
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Monday, November 5th, 2007
CELLPHONE company MTN hopes to win more support from the youth market by signing a deal giving it the exclusive right to sell music downloads by kwaito singer Arthur Ma fokate.
The deal, described as a “coup” by MTN portal manager Thabiet Allie, is massively eclipsed by the deal pulled off by its rival Vodacom, however, which gives Vodacom users access to a million tunes by local and international artists.
Vodacom’s offering is also more economical, costing R25 a week to download a limitless number of tracks, while MTN users will pay up to R20 for an individual track by Ma fokate.
The battle of the bands now playing out on cellphones is crucial because young subscribers use their handsets for innovative services, ringing up far more profit for the networks than the talk-and-text-only older users.
MTN customers will access Ma fokate’s music through the MTNLoaded portal, paying R3 for a ringtone and R10 for a full track. But they will also pay for airtime used during the data download, which could inflate the bill by another R10.
Allie said the MTNLoaded site, which offered news, music, games and other mobile content, was hugely successful. Downloads of local tracks accounted for 60% of all the music purchased. About 2,6-million of its 14-million subscribers in SA have registered with MTNLoaded, and last month 500000 people downloaded some form of music.
Mofokate said he and his 999 Music record label procrastinated for two years before signing a deal to make their music available for cellphone users. He had taken time to analyse the market and to strike a good deal so the artists benefited financially when tracks were downloaded, he said.
The target market of 16- to 24-year-olds were too lazy to go to a record store, but they all had cellphones and knew how to use them, Mofokate said.
The tracks will be locked by Digital Rights Management technology so tunes cannot be transferred from a phone to a computer or other device — a tactic the music industry has introduced to maximise royalty fees.
Via Business Day
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Monday, November 5th, 2007
Hundreds of fans flocked to the University of Namibia stadium on Friday evening to see their favourite music acts live, while thousands more watched from home.
The Sanlam-NBC Music Awards again this year gave nominees a chance to showcase their talents and hopefully nab the remaining votes needed to win the award in their respective categories. The fifth annual Sanlam-NBC Music Awards will take place in December and promise to be yet another spectacular event. Phone lines for voting opened on October 1 already, with each person allowed to vote only once for an artist in a given category, except for the song of the year. This year, artists can compete in 17 categories, from Best Ma/gaisa/Damara Punch to best Oviritje, as well as Best Single, Best Song of the Year and Artist of the Year.
For the first time, the competition introduces six nominees in each category that receives more than 20 entries, while the competition only has four nominations in categories that have less than 20 entries, as in the past. The awards witnessed a doubling of entries in some categories such as gospel, and very high entries in House and Dancehall/Ragga. “With the fifth Awards, we have seen an increase in the quality of entries as well as the numbers,” said committee member Ingrid van Rensburg. “Very creative, entertaining songs were entered. We have received overwhelming support from the artists and so far we have registered the highest entries ever.”
She said, compared to previous years, many artists have achieved a great deal and have contributed significantly musically in terms of album releases, album sales, performances and social responsibility. “For this reason, and for the very first time in the history of the music awards, we have nine nominees for the artist of the year”. She said pre-selection of the different nominees proved a daunting task, carried out by a committee comprising six music professionals and specialists. Assessment was based on the following criteria: originality, artistic ability, creativity, arrangement and production as well as overall sound, entertainment value and popularity for audio. For best music video the committee took into account creativity (concept development), originality, visual quality, editing, style and entertainment value.
To vote for their favourite artist in a specific category, mobile phone users can send a text message only, consisting of the artist code (in that specific category) to 7662. The charge is N$3 per SMS.
Via New Era
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Monday, November 5th, 2007
Jamaican reggae star Luciano, whose members were denied transit visas last week by the British authorities to join him in Zimbabwe for the Jacaranda Jazz Festival held on Saturday in Harare, had an inspirational show with the backing of the local Transit Crew outfit.
The festival held at the City Sports Centre is a Zimbabwe Tourism Authority’s initiative to promote ecological and urban tourism. Luciano performance was inspiring, especially when he enchanted revellers with his all-time classic Sweep Over My Soul.
As promised, Luciano performed with passion the song Zimbabwe Stand Strong that he penned specially for the festival. It was clear from his act that he had come prepared for this show and his friend Mikey General spiced up the act when he played the inspirational track It’s Me Again Jah.
Some of the songs that left ladies in particular screaming include Rastafari, One Way Ticket and Who Could It Be? Acclaimed drummer Trevor Hall and his Crucial Mix Band had a good show despite playing copyrights done by the late Bob Marley. It was Hall, also known as Ras Jabu, in particular who was a marvel to watch when he took to the stage and belted two more songs. Gospel sensation Fungisai Zvakavapano who featured at the show had her act disrupted by poor sound while Charles Summerfield played unfamiliar songs. Andy Brown was the last to take to the stage played when most people were already trickling out of the venue.
Tongai Moyo did not feature at the Jacaranda Festival as was previously advertised and it could not be immediately established why he did not appear. Although the show boasted a star-studded line-up, the venue had a bearing on the poor attendance. Some revellers returned home when they were told to park outside the Harare Agricultural Show grounds.
Some said the show was poorly marketed as ZTA flighted the event’s advert on the day of the show.
ZTA boss Karikoga Kaseke last week said they had chosen the City Sports Centre as they anticipated a huge crowd.
Via The Herald
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Monday, November 5th, 2007
It was a nail-biting situation as Celtel Uganda MD, Yesse Oenga delayed to reveal the top prize winner - and with the usual suspects Bebe Cool and Bobi Wine, almost everybody was gobsmacked to hear Ronald Mayinja announced winner
None of the three feuding artistes Jose Chameleone, Bobi Wine and Bebe Cool can lay claim to being the biggest in the land this year after losing the Artiste of the Year title to Eagles Production band singer Ronald Mayinja.
Mayinja was the biggest winner with four major awards at the 2007 Pearl of Africa Music (Pam) awards ceremony held at Lugogo Cricket Oval last Saturday.
He took home Album of the Year (Ssente), Song of the Year (Africa), Best Live Band Single (Africa) and the top prize of Artiste of the Year where he beat Bobi Wine, Bebe Cool and Hajjati Sophia Nantongo.
Accepting the top accolade Mayinja, who was accompanied by his wife Aisha and “animated” radio DJ Meddie Nsereko, said: “God is great. I want to thank all the people who have helped me, the media, Celtel and Pam awards.”
However, Bebe Cool and Nantongo also took a share of the glory, taking the Best Male Artiste and Best Female Artiste accolades respectively. Ballroom dance specialist Christopher Kato a.k.a “The Dancing Wizard” won the Lifetime achievement award, which he collected along with dancing partner Night Flower - and yes they gave the audience a sample of their craft, which drew cheers.
Henry Tigan took home the Best New Artiste trophy, an accolade that comes with a recording session at the prestigious Abbey Road Studios in London. Pastor Wilson Bugembe won both Best Gospel Single for his runaway hit Mukama Njagala Kumanya and Best Gospel Artiste trophies but he was a no-show, which probably lent credence to the rumour that he had denounced his nomination weeks ago because the Pam awards are “secular.” The explanation was that the pastor-cum-musician was away performing the Lord’s duties.
Last year Judith Babirye also refused to pick her Best Gospel Single for Beera Nange, saying that she does not mingle with secular artistes. Last year’s top winner Bobi Wine was, this year, given a cold shoulder with only the Best Afro-beat Artiste and Best Afro-beat Single (Kiwani) accolades. Juliana only won Best R&B Artiste beating arc-rival Iryn Namubiru, Blu*3 and Michael Ross.
And Chameleone, who had lost the MTV EMAs’ Best African Act to Nigeria’s D’Banj, was yet again on a losing streak losing in all the four categories in which he was nominated.
Blu*3’s Burrn won Video of the Year taking their glass trophy tally to two after triumphing in Best R&B Single category for Ndibeera Naawe.
However, their producer/manager Steve Jean lost the Audio Producer of the Year award to his younger brother Henry Kiwuwa for the second time in a row. Songsmith Sylva Kyagulanyi was yet again crowned Song Writer Of The Year. Eagles also won the Best Live Band prize for the fourth year running.
Generally, the show was great and the organisers take credit for the great sound and lighting thanks to Vibes Production. The emceeing duo of Mich Egwang (English) and Charles James Ssenkubuge (Luganda) was also on top of their game telling lots of rib-cracking jokes.
The show-stopping performance of the night came from Bebe Cool and Annet Nandujja who combined on Kamungolo. Mayinja, clad in a goatskin suit, sang his winning hit Africa while flamboyant Bobi Wine brought the crowd to their feet with his hits Abalungi Balumya and Kiwani. Irene Namubiru and Sylva Kayagulanyi paid tribute to departed stars Philly Lutaaya and Elly Wamala respectively with renditions of the timeless hits Empisa Zo and Viola.
Then the guest artiste Ringo Madlingozi rounded off the show with his hit Sondela just before the big announcement was made. At exactly midnight the Celtel Uganda MD Yesse Oenga was invited on stage to make the announcement.
It was a nail-biting situation as Oenga delayed to reveal the top prizewinner - and with the usual suspects Bebe Cool and Bobi Wine, almost everybody was gobsmacked to hear Ronald Mayinja announced winner.
One section of the audience jeered while others cheered and in a few seconds the stage was full of Mayinja’s fans congratulating him.
Mayinja said in a post award interview: “I didn’t expect to win this award. Of course I was certain I would win something since I was nominated several times but this one (Artiste of the Year) was quite tight, actually if I had to, I would bet on Bobi Wine taking it and not me.”
Bobi Wine was the first artiste to rush backstage and congratulate Mayinja. “I believe I won because my song tackles a general problem affecting the whole of Africa, however, I can’t forget to say thumps up to my wife who usually helps me in writing down lyrics.”
Strutting down the red carpet that night were a host of celebrities from all corners of the showbiz world- musicians, designers corporate company managers et cetera.
Via The Monitor
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Monday, November 5th, 2007
Madalena Tchiemba “Mabela”, from central Benguela Province, on Saturday won the 15th edition of the national music contest “Variante2007″ held in Benguela city, totalling 161 points, Angop witnessed.
Mabela who sang the music “Que é Nosso é” received from the hands of the Deputy Minister of Culture, Virgilio Coelho, a participation diploma and a check worth Usd 10,000.
The duet Antonia Fernandes/Silva Nogueira of southwestern Namibe province stood second with 120points and got 5,000 dollars, whereas Ester Ndongo with 117 points got 3,000 dollars and a participation diploma.
Meanwhile, speaking to the press after the victory, Mabela said this triumph is a result of a hard work, devotion and patience she showed over the latest years.
Via Angola Press Agency
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Monday, November 5th, 2007
SUNGURA musician Tongai Moyo has dismissed talk that his song Maths, which will feature in his forthcoming album, was targeted at fellow sungura musician, First Farai.
Some of Tongai’s followers and other sungura lovers had been wondering whether the song was the first shot in another war in the popular genre.
In the song, Tongai Moyo asserts, “Dhewa vane Maths yavo . . . vamwe vakaitevedzera zvikaramba . . . vamwe vakaizama zvikaita,” barbs which some fans have concluded could be a veiled attack on copycats.
Sungura music has been characterised by verbal wars between its leading exponents, notably Alick Macheso and Tongai.
Tongai says the song is directed at those who follow in other people’s footsteps only to falter at a later stage or fall by the wayside when the going gets tough.
Dhewa is, however, full of praise for those who have followed in the footsteps of their heroes and went on to prove their mettle.
“When I composed the song Maths that will feature on my next album, I was not attacking anyone. Contrary to popular belief, the song is meant to encourage people to pursue their dreams unwaveringly.
“In all we do we learn from other people but some also do not appreciate other people’s work - such is life,” said the Kwekwe-based sungura artiste, who in his early days, was accused of imitating the legendary Leonard Dembo.
Tongai did admit, however, when he sings about some people of using Dhewa’s Maths as a stepping stone to success he was actually referring to First Farai.
“First Farai has openly admitted that he learns from my music, he followed it and he is starting to get shows and his fan base is beginning to swell,” said Tongai.
Tongai said he had also mentioned gold panners and mahwindi in the song to encourage them to be focused in whatever they do.
First Farai said he did not find anything offensive in the song, adding that there was no beef between him and Dhewa.
“Tongai is like a brother to me. He has helped me to reach where I am today and I admire his music.
“The song Maths is an encouragement for people to play their cards right. Tongai certainly wouldn’t compose a song to attack me — he is my mentor. He is actually proud of that because I am his product,” said First Farai.
Via The Herald
