A night of many colours
By Peter Tinashe Kaviya
‘’Just once, I would like to wake up, turn on the news, and hear… ‘Monday has been cancelled, go back to sleep.”.
These words are obviously from an individual who hasn’t heard about the Monday nights Jam Session, or rather in the case of the latest edition, the Monday and Tuesday’s Jam Session.
Though normally hosted every Monday at City Sports Bar in downtown Harare, the jealous of a power cut and technical fault thereafter, forced a premature end to the Monday’s edition.
But with the electricity problem sorted, the organisers decided to re-ignite the session on Tuesday and it was indeed a night of thrills, glamour and fun.
Jam Session slots have become the defining tradition for music lovers since its infant show in the early 2016, many artistes have showed up; showcased their talent, and all including the fans have left satisfied-with only one thing in mind, what will be the line up next Monday- yes, they are looking forward to a Monday.
With this week’s edition aptly titled Bulawayo meets Harare, it was bound to be a colorful night of diverse music taste and cultural exhibition and indeed, colorful it was!
The stage was colorful, the ambiance on point, auditorium packed, the big names in the music industry in attendance, with Green Studio’s personnel ready to film the proceedings for flighting on national television in days to come, all that was left was the ‘’director’’ to shout, lights- camera – action.
And indeed, event director of ceremonies Gift Ndombe Nyamazana duly signaled the start of the session.
First to grace the stage was delectable Donna from Bulawayo captivating the audience with her routines.
She was followed by Lady Tee who left the stage for Bulawayo rapper Warrabaty before the stage had to brave the energy of Kessia Mangosha who put up a solid and energetic performance much to the applause of the patrons.
Tendai Chimombe daughter to The Ocean Band leader James Chimombe also took to the stage taking fans down memory lane with renditions of hits such as Jikinya and Jemedza among many of her father’s hits.
Poet Albert Nyathi made a brief appearance that he ended with his 90’s hit Senzeni na, a track he composed after the assassination of Chris Hani. He was to be joined by several artistes for the song among them Jeys Marabini and Sandra Ndebele before Andy Muridzo led his “police officers” with well managed drills.
During her set the major highlight had to be Lady Storm who ironically has appeared on Jah Prayzah’s Eriza Video and this time released astounding vocals behind the mic.
With many anticipating a Bev vs. Sandra dance-off, the Sexy Angels boss surprised many when she took to the stage with a live band sampling songs off her debut album Tapinda, served with a dash of suggestive dances.
Fellow raunchy dancer Zoey Sifelani though not billed to perform, joined Bev on stage also showcasing her supple moves.
Sandra Ndebele, Derick Majaivana and Talking Guiters also took turns to grace the stage.
The session was a colorful event with many in the music industry passing through to witness the now popular nights.
City Sports manager Mathius Bangure said he was happy with the artistes’ sets and said the night had become a perfect opportunity for artiste interaction.
“I’m very happy with the quality of performances showcased by the artistes tonight. It’s amazing how they all managed to entertain our patrons one after the other,” Bangure said.
‘’I think the night is now attracting a lot of artistes either performing or not and I think it gives all stake holders an opportunity to interact and exchange notes and I am sure the nights will continue to grow from strength to strength.”
Bangure also revealed that there were plans to introduce the Jam Session nights to an international audience with live Twitter updates being introduced this week while plans for live streaming are reportedly at an advanced stage.
