Zimbabwe: new shows to revive jazz-music performances

The Alliance Française Harare has joined forces with the Zimbabwe Jazz Community Trust to organize the highly anticipated “Zimbabwe Jazz Nights” which will take place as part of the Zimbabwe Online Music project.

The show kicks off on Saturday and is expected to feature nine jazz artists who will perform every fortnight.

The best jazz artists were selected from a group of creators in Bulawayo, Gweru, Mutare and Harare. They include Ngoma Ingoma, Dudu Manhenga, Prudence Katomeni Mbofana, Filbert Marova and Friends, Bradley Sibiya Quintet, Rute Mbangwa, Buhle, Steve Chikotie and The Travelers Band.

According to Marova, founding member and program director of the Zimbabwe Jazz Community Trust, everything was ready for the new program.

“Due to the requirements associated with Covid-19, the Zimbabwe Jazz Community Trust was unable to host its traditional and weekly jazz concerts under the Back2Jazzics banner,” he said.

“This new concept will fill the void and provide jazz fanatics with the much-needed entertainment. It is a way to promote the adaptation of artists and jazz enthusiasts to online platforms, considering that music jazz has been lagging behind since Covid-19 affected many communities and traditional places. “

Marova said few productions have surfaced in the past year and a half.

“Those who came were very few in number and were rarely noticed online,” he said. “The narrative is about to change with the launch of a new online jazz show called Zimbabwe Jazz Nights.

These shows will be shown on the Facebook pages of Alliance Française de Harare and Ngoda TV and other broadcast channels at 7:30 p.m. every two weeks from the third week of July.

The initiative is supported by the Culture Fund of Zimbabwe Trust in partnership with the Delegation of the European Union in Zimbabwe.