The Sunday News
AFRO-JAZZ musician Jeys Marabini is back from an “exhilarating” Austrian tour that saw him with his band perform at various festivals during the month-long visit. Jeys, whose name is Majahawodwa Ndlovu, said they were humbled by the support they received from music fans wherever they performed.
The Afro-jazz artiste arrived in Zimbabwe last Friday morning with his band, after spending a few days in South Africa.
Jeys said they were looking forward to more European tours, after receiving enquiries from music promoters who were impressed by their acts.
“We received lot of enquiries from music promoters in Europe who want us to perform at various festivals and venues over the next coming two years. Although we did not sign any concrete performance contracts, we are certainly negotiating with some who were impressed by our music. People were already asking if we are available for 2015, 2016 and others were proposing 2017 dates,” he said.
Jeys, who travelled with his backing group, Kozekulunge for the first time, said the shows were well marketed and they are looking forward to more performances in Europe in the next coming years.
He said some of the musicians were surprised to learn that there was such a good band in Zimbabwe.
“Many musicians were impressed by our music, including Ivorian, Dobet Gnahore who performed at Hifa this year and questioned why we have never performed at that festival. Most musicians thought maybe we were too expensive for Hifa but the truth is we have always been rebuffed by the organisers and we don’t know why. It has been my wish to perform at the festival but I guess our time is yet to come.
“The musicians were surprised to learn that there were musicians of my calibre in Zimbabwe. I think the relationship we created with other musicians there will most likely open doors for us in future,” said Jeys.
Jeys performed alongside Gnahore at the Kasumana Africa Festival, Pascal Lopongo from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Brazil’s Scelia Mara, Wally Warning, a roots reggae singer based in Aruba Netherlands, Niger’s Etran Finatawa and Lala Njava from Madagascar on 12 July.
The Marabini hitmaker, said Kusumana attracted an audience of more than 10 000 people, making it an exhilarating experience.
The group also performed at the Chiala Africa Festival in Graz with artistes that include Black Wizards Acrobats (Kenya), Igbo National Union Steiermark (Nigeria), Kofi Qaurshie (Ghana), Mamadou Diabate (Burkina Faso), Garifuna Collective (Belize), Routes Radicals (Germany), Pangea Projects (Austria) and Maffeu Kamdeau (Austria).
They also had a blockbuster performance with Zimbabwean groups, Insingizi and Iyasa.
The group began the tour on 16 June with a workshop and concert with students at VS Haibach and Pfarrheim Rohrbach, then went to Feldkirchen and Arnreith the following day, before conducting a workshop and an unplugged concert for students in HS Rohrbach and played at an evening concert in ARENA Aigen on 18 June.
The band also featured at the Chiala Africa Festival in Graz on 20 June and the following day they teamed up with Iyasa, who are on tour in Austria and Insingizi, who are based in that country, for a blockbuster performance in Djungel Wien, Vienna, that saw them showcase local art at a packed concert.
Jeys travelled with five members of his band to Austria, Mzingaye Ndlela (percussion), Mthabisi Moyo (lead guitar and second acoustic), Dumisani Nkomo (vocals), Kelvin Ndlovu (bass guitar) and Trevor Mnaphi (drums).
