The Sunday News
Kiyapili Sibanda, Sunday Life Reporter
Wine has a unique and mystical quality to it, unlike other beverages, it oftentimes benefits from aging. No one can craft exactly what the final outcome will be —the wine is constantly evolving.
He is one of the most successful urban grooves artiste to emerge from the genre. He is also a songwriter, producer in his own right. The hit single Seiko with Roki propelled him to stardom and since that time he never looked back.
Born Leonard Arnold Mapfumo, one can safely say the artiste is getting better with age. He is in the process of evolving himself as an artiste by taking the genre to another level in order to revive it for the better.
Earlier this year, he was quoted in one publication that was set to release a new album titled Since 1999: The Lost Files, by the end of the year. He added that in the album was a collection of his works from 1999 which have not yet been produced.
“On the album, I am working on my past works which have not yet been produced. Currently, I am committing less time for live shows as I have migrated into talent search and grooming of artistes,” Mapfumo said.
If one visits Leonard Mapfumo’s Facebook timeline, they will be assured that the artiste was sprouting for the better like wine.
His Thursday Live Sessions are indeed worth watching, sharing and talking about.
The comments he gets from his Facebook fans mean that the celebrated godfather of urban grooves has struck the right cord this time around. He features some notable artistes to do cover songs from his previous projects and other songs from artistes in the industry.
Artistes like Dreamstar vocalist Nyasha David, Trevor Dongo and the United Kingdom-based artiste Shanky are some of the notables who have graced the Thursday Live Sessions.
To add the excitement of the live sessions, Mapfumo performs with a live band, an uncommon mechanism in the urban grooves industry because most of the artistes use back tracks in their performances.
In the first video he posted on his Facebook timeline on March this year, said he was moved by the new project that he has taken on. He went on to perform the song Skiri Rebasa with Nyasha David backed by Those Guys band.
“Hie guys, I feel so excited to be sharing this new project of live sessions with Leonard Mapfumo this and every other Thursday. Let me know which songs from me, you would love to watch us play,” posted Mapfumo.
The song Kana Ndinewe originally done by Nicholas Somerai is another song which he did a cover performance on the live sessions with Nyasha David. It made him mention during the performance that they will be having their first show outside their usual spot on 25 May at Food Nest.
From being a pioneer of urban grooves in the early 2000s it seems Mapfumo is turning to be yet a pioneer in reviving the genre for the better. Also, through his Heshi Mfeshi studios, Mapfumo is working on the “Dream Star” project which is aimed at discovering raw talent. — @Kiyaz_Cool
