The Sunday Mail
Prince Mushawevato and Andrew Moyo —
ONE thing for certain is sungura musician Peter Moyo has challenges with his vocals, however, the same cannot be said about his stage work.
His forthcoming DVD album “Mabasa aMwari”, to be launched this Wednesday (December 14) at Dandaro Inn in the capital is expected to help him win fresh followers. The musician has often won new faces for his gigs after proving his mettle at big events like the annual shut down or commemoration gigs.
In fact, the general agreement within the music world is that Peter aka Young Igwe’s act is next to none with regards to stage execution. Holders of this school of thought opine the Utakataka Express heir should direct more of his energy towards popularising his live performances and doing video productions.
But this is not to say his first two albums “Mushonga Mukuru” and “Mabasa aMwari”, released after he took over reins at the Kwekwe-based outfit in 2011 following the demise of founder Tongai “Dhewa” Moyo are a disaster.
They are not. Simply put, he has a better chance of winning more admirers through videos than his audio music. His last offering “Mabasa aMwari” carries six tracks but he only chose four including a bonus track titled “Zimbabwe”, which was originally done by his late father to make them five videos.
The bonus track was included as a way of paying tribute to the late sungura maestro. “Samasimba”, “Mavanga”, “Rudo Pasina”, “Mhosva Dzemadzinza” are the other videos on the set to be launched DVD. The Young Igwe notes his latest production is his festive season present to his multitudes of fans.
“I have put my heart and soul in this project because I wanted to give my fans something exceptional,” said Peter.
“This is going to be an early Christmas present for everyone who has been supporting Utakataka Express through thick and thin and what I can promise is that they will not be disappointed.”
Apart from his exceptional lyrics and vocals, the late Dhewa was a perfectionist who not only produced high quality videos that dominated music charts but also created energetic and creative dance routines.
Video albums to productions like Igwe’s chart bursting “Naye”, “Pakanaka Dhewa” and “Samanyemba” easily give testimony to the foregone assertions. But the self-proclaimed “sungura messiah”, Peter Moyo, has thus far not had challenges in emulating set video production standards.
However, what may probably affect the quality of his work is the issue of funding. Some of his counterparts in the top five of the music industry currently enjoy a purple patch in their careers, therefore, they have resources to channel towards video shooting in different locations, including outside the country’s borders.
Peter acknowledges this fact and remains grateful to a “blesser” who made it possible for him to see through the video shooting process.
“The project almost suffered stillbirth as it became difficult to get funding after completion of just two videos but Prophet Walter Magaya ended up chipping in,” revealed the Young Igwe.
“…it turned out the project was a bit more expensive than I had anticipated so at one point things got really tough but Prophet Magaya came to my rescue and sponsored the production of all remaining bits.”
He further argues local producers are as good as their international counterparts hence there is no real need to cross borders for video production.
The firebrand musician worked with video production experts like Brighton Magaya and Von Tavaziva popularly known for his role as Detective Chanaiwa in a local television crime series “Go Chanaiwa Go” on this project.
“I know there are artistes who are going to other countries to make their videos but I realised that it was also possible to make good music videos using local guys. I could also have gone to France or anywhere in the world to shoot these videos because of the financial backing I had but I am sure we have enough talent in the country capable of also making exceptional material,” remarks Young Igwe.
The Utakataka Express frontman started video shooting in June and only managed to finish production around end of October. According to initial plans “Mabasa aMwari” DVD album was supposed to be launched during the annual “Dhewa Commemoration” gigs that were first held in Kwekwe and later in some other parts of the country.
“We could have simply agreed to speed up production after we got a funder in the form of the prophet but we saw it fit to take our time and come up with a quality product that will not only make our fans happy but also will be able to compete on the market,” said the musician.
“Mabasa aMwari” was shot at various locations around the capital with most of the filming being done on blue screen. This will be the artiste’s second DVD album effort.
“We went all out to make sure that we had exceptional outfits, our choreography was on point and the quality was top notch. People should expect to see a step-up from the first DVD we made and I am hopeful that they will get to enjoy these videos,” he concludes.
Artistes that include Freeman, Tendai Dembo, Trevor Dongo, Somandla Ndebele, Ba Shupi, Cindy among others, are expected to grace the Dandaro Inn launch.
The DVD will officially go on sale for US$2 per copy while lucky fans might also win free copies of the DVD on the day of the launch.
