Leonard Ncube Victoria Falls Reporter
THE somewhat “silent” but popular grand old gents of jazz, Cool Crooners, will focus more on performing at corporate events and weddings, than at nightspots which they say cannot pay them.

This was revealed by the outfit’s manager George Salim who was in Victoria Falls to bury his younger brother — former Chicken Bus Band member — Peter Paul Salim who was allegedly axed to death by a suspected mentally challenged man last week.

The manager of the four-member band composed of Lucky Thondlana, Timothy Mnkandla, Abel Sithole and himself said most nightspots cannot afford hosting them.

“Clubs can’t afford to pay us because when we’re performing there, we need to use our live band so it gets costly for them to host us. If they do, they pay us peanuts.

“Everybody is struggling now. We should be having a lot of shows but people can’t afford to pay us anymore. This is why we’ve resorted to performing at weddings and corporate functions,” Salim said.

He castigated some promoters and show organisers who he said were taking advantage of artistes, especially those who are up-and-coming.

“Some show organisers just offer us peanuts for our performances. They can’t do such a thing to people like us because we know our worth.

“Up-and-coming artistes should be cautious when dealing with promoters otherwise they’ll always be paid peanuts and never realise their worth,” Salim said.

He said it was disheartening that the group which has proved their mettle both at regional and international stages could no longer perform at nightspots as fans were yearning for them.

“It’s clear our fans want to see us perform because each time they watch us at events or weddings, they often clamour for more,” he said.

Salim said it was important for promoters and clubs to come together to see how best they could host the group, especially considering that they earn a living through performances.

Starting out in the 50s as two groups — The Golden Rhythm Crooners and the Cool Four, the outfit was among the first proponents of Zimbabwe “township” music. The surviving members formed The Cool Crooners in the 90s, as a way of ensuring their legacy lives on.

Cool Crooners have two albums to their name, Blue Sky (2001) which features the famous song, Ibhulugwe lami and Isatilo (2005). They have shared the stage with some of the country’s renowned jazz musicians, Dudu Manhenga, Bob Nyabinde, Jazz Invitation and Tanga WekwaSando.

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