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Mokoomba

Fred Zindi Music
This year’s Harare International Festival of the Arts, which is running under the theme ‘Articulate’, kicks off tomorrow and closes on Sunday.

Former Harare Mayor, Muchadeyi Masunda is the festival’s chairman while artistic director and founder Manuel Bagorro and his sister, Maria Wilson, the executive director, still call the shots.

They are assisted by Tafadzwa Simba who acts as the general manager with a host of many who play different roles in the well-spoken HIFA team.

Magical moments are expected during the opening ceremony of this year’s Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA), which opens tomorrow to high-energy foot-stomping performances and brilliant fireworks.

The opening show which is led by Zimbabwe’s super-group, Mokoomba, in The Power of Many will also feature music, dance and visuals as well as some of Zimbabwe’s finest dancers. As usual it is directed by Asa Jogi.

I know for certain the performance by Mokoomba and the selected dancers on the opening night will leave the audience asking for more if last year’s opening night is anything to go by..

I agree with Banning Eyre of Afro Pop World, USA that Mokoomba is quite simply the most impressive band Zimbabwe has produced in recent years.

Surprisingly, its members do not hail from Harare, Mutare or Bulawayo, cities which traditionally have produced the finest artistes in Zimbabwe. Rather, these seven musicians come from the northern parts of Zimbabwe near the border with Zambia. Mokoomba, formed in 2001, trumpet the energy and dynamism of their region’s best known geographic feature, the august Victoria Falls.

I attended HIFA 14 in 2014. The captivating performance took the thousands of fans who had gathered for the ceremony down memory lane as the performers dished out songs from yesteryear greats such as Dolly Parton, Kenny Rodgers, UB40, Bob Marley, The Bhundu Boys, 2 Pac, Thomas Mapfumo and many more.

The show kicked off with the singing of the Zimbabwe National Anthem after which old school classics were played one after another non-stop.

The mood of the crowd about the spectacular show said it all with loud cheers which came through memories of the good old days that were brought by the old school songs performed in a style that demonstrated creativity.

The final act of the opening night of the show was full of fireworks, which drew loud cheers from the crowd.

And indeed when they left, the crowds were wondering what’s in store for them next after such a memorable show.

Last year’s show however, was hindered by the non-appearance of the group, Freshly Ground, from South Africa on the closing night.

This year’s edition of the premier arts showcase does not have much controversy as it reflects progress made by the organisers so far whose aim is to fulfil the expectations of their audiences..

Yes, as I said before, the month of April is always an exciting one. Despite the difficulties, HIFA brings a lot of cultural and artistic events. However, as usual this column, focuses on the exciting musical activities. This year hundreds of local artistes who are used to playing in small clubs are looking forward to performing at HIFA as it is the platform where their acts are viewed by thousands of people at once.

A host of international and regional musicians will also perform at HIFA this week but apart from Salif Keita who will team up with Hope Masike to close this year’s festival, there are not many popular international artistes lined up.

The Simon and Garfunkel story will use projection photos and film footage at HIFA tomorrow, Tuesday the 28th and Wednesday the 29th April. Simon and Garfunkel are famous for songs such as ‘Mrs Robinson’, ‘Cecilia’, ‘Bridge Over Troubled Waters’ and ‘Homeward Bound’. How I wish the two musicians were here to perform live.

The rest of the week is filled with different genres of music: starting with An Afro-Japanese Music Happening, Taurai Pekiwe and the Legal Lions on Tuesday while Luisa Sobral, The Zimbabwe College of Music and Prince Edward School Bands perform on the Coca-Cola Green stage on Wednesday and later Jackson Wahengo on the same day. On Thursday there is a music conference hosted by Impact. On the ZOL main stage the Dancehall alliance featuring Buffalo Soldier, Kaakie from Ghana and Guspy Warrior appear.

The Zanzibar Taarab Kidumbak Ensemble, i-Tribe, Buhle and Sylent and later Bashupi & Pkay also appear on the Coca-Cola Green stage. The next day, Friday the 1st of May features Prince Edward School band again, Digitts, True Vibenation and Beatenberg.

Saturday brings Djembe Monks and Michael Moore and some free stage performances on First Street while Victor Kunonga and Ramin Khalatbari are the main attraction on the ZOL main stage.

Later, there is Perfect Friction on the same stage, followed by Vee Mukarati on the Coca-Cola Green.

Sunday sees the closing of HIFA where Tariro neGitare, Eve Kawadza and the Marondera Schools Orchestra, Makumbe High School Choir, Josh Meck Silas Miami & Raven feature throughout the day until Salif Keita & Hope Masike Close HIFA at 9p.m.

This should be exciting as the two artistes are capable of taking their audience through myriad states of emotion.

Salif Keita who returns to Harare for the second time comes back with his distinctive grainy voice which has mesmerised people the world over. He has been at the forefront of Malian music for several years. His musical styles range from Rock, Soul, Jazz-funk to West African Griot traditional music.

Hope Masike on the other hand is a celebrated Zimbabwean mbira player and singer. She has so far produced two albums which show a combination of inspiring enjoyable music. Simply put, Hope’s music is hard to ignore. Her unique style and inspirational chants have set a standard others may find desperately hard to follow. It will be good to see her close HIFA together with an international icon.

As expected, there will be fireworks displays at the end of the ceremony on the closing night. I am pleased to note that HIFA has become an institution, so have many local artistes who seem to appear at the event every year.

As Manuel Bagorro, the artistic director puts it, “How dull the world would be if we didn’t have some form of artistic life.

How would we share the things that cannot be communicated in any other way and have fun at the same time?

How would we rise above words to articulate the most poetic aspects of being human?

The arts can express who we are as individuals and as a vital nation. This is our opportunity to articulate who we want to be, so speak up”.

Be your own judge!

• Fred Zindi is a Professor at the University of Zimbabwe. He is also a musician and an author of several books on music. He can be contacted via e-mail on [email protected]