The Sunday Mail
Takudzwa Chihambakwe
GRAMMY award-winning UK soul singer, Joss Stone, will headline the fifth edition of the Ngoma Nehosho Live Sessions slated for the 7 Arts Theatre this Friday.
The concert has been welcomed by female players in the music sector as a big break for them. Not many promoters are willing to gamble with an all-female line up, with many arguing that the ladies do not pull crowds.
Stone will be supported by the cream of local female musical talent; Ammara Brown, Tamy Moyo and Gemma Griffiths. “We are really excited about the show as it is the first time after a long time in the capital that there has been a female artistes’ only concert,” said Ngoma Nehosho founder, Walter Wanyanya.
“It was not by coincidence to have the acts being all female but a very deliberate and well thought out plan. The idea is to uplift female artistes in Zimbabwe regardless of the genre they specialise in,” he added.
Wanyanya said they took advantage of Joss Stone’s world tour to put local artistes on the map. “Joss Stones is currently on her world tour, in which she is aiming to perform in every country that is listed with the United Nations, so we approached her after realising what she has achieved in such a short space of time and thought why not have her make Zimbabwe one of her stops.
“We approached her management and they agreed to our proposal and the rest is history. Another reason we chose to have Joss come through is that she is very open to working with other artistes, and we believe that this could be an opportunity for one of the acts to collaborate with her.
“Joss herself has actually told us that she is willing to work on a collaboration with one of the featured artistes if possible during her visit to Zimbabwe.”
Wanyanya revealed that Stone will not be touring with her full band but will stage a duet acoustic set. “Joss will stage an intimate 70-minute long acoustic set. This will bring a much needed variation to the concert as all other acts will be using full bands,” revealed Stones.
A bubbly Tamy had this to say ahead of the show, “I am honoured and really humbled to be part of such a phenomenal line up of talented women. I promise to give the best, nothing more nothing less.
This is a huge platform and a very different one, a chance to introduce myself to a different and diverse audience.
“More so, I get to share the stage with the amazing Grammy award-winning Joss Stone, a world renowned act. It’s a humbling experience and an opportunity for me to learn from those at the top,” said Tamy.
Working with female acts is no new experience for Wanyanya and his company, over the past four years he has been working with South African jazz maestro, Hugh Masekela, on a project titled Shai Shai. “Over the past four years I have been working with Hugh Masekela on a band called Shai Shai, which features four female artistes namely Prudence Katomeni-Mbofana, Benita Tarupiwa, Joyce Warikandwa and Rumbidzai Tavaziva.
“Shai Shai recently completed its debut album produced by Victor Kunonga and we are just finalising the release date. So both on a local and international scale, Ngoma Nehosho is there to push female artistes,” said Wanyanya.
