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Bongani Ndlovu, Showbiz Correspondent 

TALENTED seven-member Afro-pop band Ngoma iNgoma has embarked on a citywide tour of Bulawayo to bring their music to the community and get people to know them.

The theme of the tour is “Taking the Music to the People” and has seen them perform at Mapiko Cocktail Bar, The Place, New Alabama and BAC Leisure. 

All these shows had a full house with people enjoying their music. The group was launched with a nine track album, Ngoma iNgoma, in May during a show at the Bulawayo Theatre. 

They mesmerised the crowd at the roil Bulawayo Arts Awards this year with their song Amalobolo. 

Group spokesperson and bass guitarist Blessing Stot said they have seen that they need to build a fan base. 

“Apart from doing it to promote ourselves and build awareness of who we are, our passion is to bring our original music to the Bulawayo Community, our community and our home. 

“As a new act we are building from the ground up and we believe there’s no better place to build in first than in our own home,” said Stot. 

He described the tour so far as wonderful and was pleased with the response from the crowd. 

“So far the tour has been wonderful. We’ve experienced an overwhelming response from each show and really appreciate the great feedback we are getting from the people. We’ve performed at Mapiko, The Place, Alabama and BAC Leisure. People love our music and the stand out tracks are Amalobolo and Iwe,” said Stot.

He said this week Ngoma iNgoma will take a rest before resuming its tour next week. 

“The Bulawayo Tour will end next week and then we’ll look into performing in Victoria Falls and Harare. The dates are still being finalised,” said Stot.

Project Ngoma is a seven-piece ensemble that has members Blessing Stot (bass guitarist and vocals), Tiyelani Chauke (keyboard and vocals), Samuel Siwela (lead guitarist and lead vocals), Obey Mudiwa (drummer), Prince Joel Nyoni (auxiliary keyboards and vocals), Carlos Jiri (percussion and lead vocals) and De Lukes (mbira and lead vocals).

Mainly focused on the Afrocentric sound with a strong influence from Zimbabwe’s music styles such as mbira, Tuku Music, Chimurenga, African Pop styles, Tribal House and Jit, the group intends to revive fallen legends’ (Oliver Mtukudzi, Chiwoniso Maraire, Andy Brown, Bhundu Boys) music.