Zimpapers Logo

Ammara Brown

Bongani Ndlovu, Showbiz Correspondent
THE recently held Bulawayo Jazz Festival has shown that there is a serious deficit in the local music industry as some artistes lacked originality.

Many of the artistes sang renditions of other people’s music instead of their own.

The festival was held at The Homestead last week with Ammara Brown being the headline act. A plethora of Bulawayo musicians such as Thandi Dhlana, Prosper Tshuma & The Smart Birds, Ramsy K among many others performed.

The festival had its entertaining times with the sizeable crowd that had gathered engrossed with the acts on stage. Some could be seen having a chat with friends while soaking up the ambience of the venue.

It was during these conversations that some started to dissecting and quizzing why most of the artistes were singing renditions of other musician.

The fans said while there was was nothing wrong with taking people down memory lane to remind them about the likes of Lovemore Majaivana, James Chimombe, Fanyana Dube, Don Gumbo and Busi Ncube, they expected the musicians to also play their own music. The festival was held to revive and keep the jazz genre alive in the city.

Ramsy K for example is arguably the best cover musician from the city as he can seamlessly sing  from Majaivana’s songs to Leonard Dembo’s tunes and keep the crowd entertained. The problem, according to fans, is when this becomes the core of his set. This was the bone of contention for many jazz fans who came out to brave the chilly weather. They wanted to hear and see the local acts perform some, if not most of their own songs/compositions.

Those who attended the festival suggested that these jazz artistes as much as they are talented on the mic, need to translate this to their own music. If the music is good enough, they said the artistes would be appreciated more by music lovers.

Other than Ramsy K, Band Fusion and Outfit Band also proved that they were good with their vocals and musical instrument artistry, but failed to show originality.

Quizzed why they resorted to singing cover versions, Outfit Band member Blessing Sitotombe, known in music circles as Stot Bass, said they have their own music, but on the day, they were constrained by time. The group performed just before Ammara Brown.

He said he was aware of the dangers of singing covers describing it as a bad thing.

“I think it’s a bad thing that needs to be stopped. However, people have to know that most of us are bands that perform in bars. There, people will listen to you for the first 30 minutes, but after that you’ll hear them shout out requests of popular songs.

“That is why we’ve stopped performing in bars because when you do cover after cover, it’ll, in the long run, destroy your career,” said Stot Bass.

Ramsy K for his part said the jazz festival was good as it uplifted the genre in Bulawayo.

Asked whether he has his own music, Ramsy K said he actually has an eight-track album in the pipeline.

He said he plans to release the album before the end of the year.