Women take over the stage at Sofar
Sofa r Sounds Harare held its tenth event hosted at the Old Rock Café in Borrowdale. The concert honoured women-led storytelling through musical performances.
The recent edition was held in collaboration with Scripts and Bars and featured Eden Lang, Kim Makumbe, Cinginkosi Ncube and Lalla Martin who showcased their diverse artistic talents.
Scripts and Bars is an exciting creative economy programme focused on enhancing the digital and business skills as well as the content creation capacity of creative professionals and organisations specialising in music and literature within Zimbabwe. The project brings together United Kingdom and Zimbabwe expertise to support partnerships and capacity development.
The Sofar Sounds global community of live music events has so far hosted a total of 85 shows during the month of March. Another 15 worldwide are scheduled to close the month next week.
Throughout the month, several cities around the world have put together concerts that have featured all-women performances in honour of International Women’s Month, which is observed around the world in March.
Harare, Kigali (Rwanda), Kampala (Uganda), Madrid (Spain), Liverpool (UK), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Greenville and Denver (US) were among the cities in the Sofar Sounds network that commemorated International Women’s Day by arranging shows featuring surprise all-female line-ups.
The artists are all previous participants in the Scripts and Bars project.
First on the stage was singer and songwriter Eden Lang. The artist whose music is a fusion of different elements that cut across different genres such as Afrobeats, RNB and Indie Rock. Lang recently released Maiwee, a new single that the artist refers to as a “classic break-up song”.
MC Michar Mushiko then introduced Lalla Martin. Born in Bulawayo and currently based in Harare, the singer-songwriter performed her songs Shaka, Sunrise, Fake Love, Shungu as well as Thel’umoya wakho. The latter is a song that she did with Mon Tsunami, a Uk-based duo of producers.
“We fused the Mbira instrument with modern sound to combine traditional sound with modern House music and a bit of Amapiano,” Martin told Independentxtra.
Afro Soul artist Cinginkosi Ncube from Victoria Falls, who is also now based in Harare, made her third Sofar appearance. Her song titled Death In You coupled with her powerful voice and emotionally driven lyrics caught the attention of music lovers by force.
“It’s about all things dead in other people, that we let sneak into our own lives. It’s not fair to carry their dead weight into your very own lively life,” she wrote on her Instagram handle.
Renowned artist Kim Makumbe graced the Sofar platform at a time when her team recently announced the release of Ndendichitodawo, a brand new single that is now available on streaming platforms.
“My Sofar Harare experience as a performing artist was definitely one of my favourite performances in my career because it allowed me to express my art to an intimate audience that understood and valued music for what it is — an experience which breaks gender, geographical, racial, tribal or any and every barrier,” Makumbe said.
Several guests who made up the multicultural audience that graced the show expressed their appreciation for the concept.
Valentina Sardella said the first time she attended a concert was in October last year.
"Honestly, I had no clue what it was all about and I wasn’t even that keen to go. But my friends had already reserved us some spots, so I thought, why not? And was I pleasantly surprised. The music was killer, the vibe was just right, and it turned out to be a real blast. It became a cherished moment of communal connection, enveloped in the melodies of immensely talented Zimbabwean artists, surrounded by cool folks who were just as into music as we were. Since then, I’m down to doing it again every single month, a testament to its enduring impact on my soul.”
“Sofar Sounds has been an amazing opportunity to listen to new artists and discover hidden gems of new music and talented spoken word artists. The diverse sounds ranging from traditional to contemporary sound have been a pleasant surprise leaving me wanting more,” said Diana Mubaiwa, a regular Sofar guest.
Cites that hosted Sofar shows on the same day included Taipei (Taiwan), Riga (Latvia), Toulouse (France) and Quito in Ecuador.
Sofar Harare is also partnered with Heart and Soul Broadcasting Services, Music Crossroads Academy Zimbabwe and ETWO Sound Systems. — Staff Writer.