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Khuliyo

Melissa Mpofu in Harare
THE atmosphere at the City Sports Bar in Harare was surreal as Bulawayo-based artists had the rare opportunity to entertain patrons during a jam session hosted at the venue.

It is not every day that artistes from Bulawayo get to mix and mingle with those from outside the city.  But, Tuesday night was different as 10 Bulawayo-based artists took to the stage in the capital.

Ideally, artistes were meant to perform for 20 minutes each as the musical event was held to promote up-and-coming artistes as well as give those whose careers were dwindling, a timely boost. Some however abused the mic and performed longer than the stipulated time.

For some such as Khuliyo, it was their first time to perform in the capital, while for the likes of experienced Sandra Ndebele and Albert Nyathi; it was a matter of re-uniting with old friends.

What made the jam session special was that the event united people as patrons danced and sang along to popular tracks like Nyathi’s Senzeni Na?
Showing that Bulawayo was the country’s arts hub, artistes took to the stage with so much authority.

One of the first acts, Khuliyo drove the crowd wild when he invited Bev on stage to assist him perform a song titled Simomondiya, which he composed after being mesmerised by her earlier in the week. Dressed in a Burberry outfit which has become her trademark outfit, Bev gladly danced along to the song, spicing up Khuliyo’s powerful performance. Towards the end of the song, Lady Tshawe took to the mic and rapped a few verses adding on to the euphoria.

Shortly after Khuliyo was Nyathi who stated that his performance would be very short. Most thought they would be short changed, but alas, it ended up being the performance of the night.

Fresh from launching his book titled My Son in South Africa, Nyathi performed a poem from the book, which captured many because of its hard hitting content. He also performed another titled My Daughter.

To end his stint on stage for the night, he performed the all-time favourite of many – Senzeni Na?, which saw people drawing closer to the stage. He invited all artistes to join him and sing along, something, which made his act more special.

And then there was Jah Prayzah replica – Andy Muridzo. One could be forgiven for believing that they were listening to Jah Prayzah’s new album as the artiste is a Jah Prayzah protégé.

To his credit, he is equally talented and is definitely a force to reckon with. With an afro jazz touch, Muridzo wowed the crowd, which clearly appreciated his talent. At this rate, he will soon be too big to be part of the jam sessions. His track – Avocado proved to be as popular as his Fire Fire chant.

He was also joined on stage by Lady Storm, popularly known as Eriza. And when his 20 minutes were up, the crowd was clearly disappointed as they wanted more.

From there it was time for some serious dance routines. Bev, who is also an artiste, performed her not-so-bad songs and was joined on stage by Zoey who did Alick Macheso’s Zora Butter dance using her feet with her head on the ground. As if she was jealous of the support Zoey was getting, Bev quickly interrupted her act.

For the better part of her performance however, Bev had a nagging fan to deal with. The fan wanted her Burberry hat, which Bev could not part with as she said she wasn’t that rich and therefore could not give it to her.

Much to the delight of many, Bev sang with a live band as she is preparing for a performance in China.

One of the last acts of the night, Sandra Ndebele was the reason why many people had packed the venue till the early hours of Wednesday. All they wanted to see was her famous split and she did not disappoint. She did it just like she did back in the day at galas.

She was joined by Zoey as well as Lady Storm for a dance off. Zoey could not miss the opportunity to show who the queen of splits was. Male patrons were visibly amazed by Ndebele’s flexibility as they cheered her on.

Closing the night were Guluva 7 and Mzoe 7 who as usual always have amazing sets to share although most people had trickled out of the venue considering it was after 2AM and midweek.