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Djembe Monks

Bongani Ndlovu, Showbiz Correspondent
TRIBAL House trio, Djembe Monks, have collaborated with Willis Wataffi on a single called Somabhula which is set to feature in their upcoming album to be released soon.

The song Somabhula was released yesterday and is downloadable from their social media pages.

Djembe Monks’ percussionist Emmanuel “Rootz” Nkomo said the group’s producer/drummer Khotso “Torture Drum” Nare was happy with the album.

“It’s a collaborative effort we did with Willis Wataffi. With this track, people can get an idea of what our soon coming album will sound like. Our producer/drummer Khotso Seromolla Nare is happy with the work we have done so far in studio so he gave us the go ahead to sample some numbers especially Somabhula,” said Rootz.

He said the forthcoming album will have a blend of musicians from all other genres.

“The album will feature phenomenal musicians from Bulawayo like Amy & the Calamities, Martyn Oosthuizen, Willis Wataffi Afrika, Hudson Simbarashe, Xmile, Trust Samende from our favorite band Mokoomba, Carolin Masa, Phats Moyo a pianist/keys player from Victoria Falls based Flying Bantu and a few more others,” said Rootz.

Some of the songs to look forward for include, Umgandani Dlodlo Chief of Inxa featuring Hudson Simbarashe on guitar, Njelimana with Martyn “Marty” Oosthuizen on didgeridoo and The Crow.

Rootz said during their recent performances they started to incorporate instruments from all over the world like the didgeridoo.

“In some of our performances we have started to incorporate the hypnotic drone of didgeridoo (a wind instrument of Aborigine origin) which is played by our engineer Martyn ‘Marty’ Oosthuizen. We are experimenting with ethnic, organic sounds across different cultures so as to nourish our performance and give our audiences a diverse experience of the Djembe Monks,” said Rootz.

He said during their tours around the country, they performed with Mokoomba and Gemma Griffiths and this could spark more collaborations in the future.

“We recently had a successful mini tour of Juliasdale (Eastern Highlands) where we shared the stage with globetrotting Mokoomba, Fiddlelicious (an Irish band based in Harare), Gemma Griffiths and Rob Burrel,” said Rootz.

“We’ve met some amazing people, musicians and visual artistes in recent times. So irons are in the fire as we look to working together in producing a fresh, visual aspect of our sound that has never been seen, a portrayal of who we are and our world view.”

Later on this year Rootz said the group will travel for the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans Moonlight Adventure in Maun and perform at the Okavango Delta Music Festival (late August) in Botswana.

“Such opportunities indicate that our music is reaching ears beyond Zimbabwe. We’re also planning a mini residence at The River Brewing Co. in Victoria Falls in June and August as part of efforts to promote our new music, entertain locals and tourists there,” said Rootz.