Entertainment / Local
Black Umfolosi rework albums
06 Jun 2013 at 23:08hrs | Views
WORLD travelled Imbube exponents Black Umfolosi are re-recording their yesteryear albums to make them available on the local market as well as upgrade them to compact discs. The well travelled ensemble has a total of 15 albums.
Tomick Dube, one of the founding members of the group, said they were working on having all the albums on compact disc as well as readily available on the local market. Nine of the albums were recorded in the country while the other six were recorded in Europe.
"Some of our albums were recorded back in the day when we were still using cassettes and vinyl records and as such our music is not readily available on the local market.
"We have an increased demand of our music, so we are working on compiling all our music to be in line with the latest technology, the CDs, MP3s and on the internet so that it can be easily accessible," he said.
The internationally acclaimed group has over the years recorded albums which have not been made available on the local market.
Dube said all the albums would be available at the end of this month.
Black Umfolosi is famed for the hit song Unity, a track which promotes peace among the people of Zimbabwe.
The track was first performed at the signing ceremony of the Unity Accord in 1987 where the group had been invited to perform.
Black Umfolosi's discography is made up of albums such as Unity released in 1990, Festival, Umdlalo, Shosholoza (2002), One Voice (2002) and their latest offering Best of Black Umfolosi Summertime (2012.)
The globe trotting group has over the past months lined up successful shows in and out of Bulawayo, a move which Dube said was aimed at bringing the 'cultural music' closer to their fans.
"We have realised that there is a gap between us and our home fans, most of them think that we only perform for European audiences.
"We want to build confidence in our people and that is why we are lining up as many shows as possible in the country," he said.
He added that they were working on a countrywide tour beginning next month.
"We want to be local, this is where we live and where we come from so it is important that we take our music to all places in the country.
"We are working with the Minister of Information and Publicity Webster Shamu. We will be touring Manicaland and Mashonaland in the coming months but our first stop is Matabeleland North next month".
For the past 32 years, the traditional accapella singers have maintained their place as the country's ambassadors and custodians of the Imbube music genre.
They have travelled extensively to several parts of Europe where their music is highly appreciated
Some of their popular hits are Take Me Home, Shosholoza, Asigwabilamadimoni, Ngiyamaz'ubaba, Malaika, Unankwa Wezigodo, Yes Lord, I Remember and Unity.
The group will leave the country for their annual tour to Europe in October.
Tomick Dube, one of the founding members of the group, said they were working on having all the albums on compact disc as well as readily available on the local market. Nine of the albums were recorded in the country while the other six were recorded in Europe.
"Some of our albums were recorded back in the day when we were still using cassettes and vinyl records and as such our music is not readily available on the local market.
"We have an increased demand of our music, so we are working on compiling all our music to be in line with the latest technology, the CDs, MP3s and on the internet so that it can be easily accessible," he said.
The internationally acclaimed group has over the years recorded albums which have not been made available on the local market.
Dube said all the albums would be available at the end of this month.
Black Umfolosi is famed for the hit song Unity, a track which promotes peace among the people of Zimbabwe.
The track was first performed at the signing ceremony of the Unity Accord in 1987 where the group had been invited to perform.
Black Umfolosi's discography is made up of albums such as Unity released in 1990, Festival, Umdlalo, Shosholoza (2002), One Voice (2002) and their latest offering Best of Black Umfolosi Summertime (2012.)
The globe trotting group has over the past months lined up successful shows in and out of Bulawayo, a move which Dube said was aimed at bringing the 'cultural music' closer to their fans.
"We have realised that there is a gap between us and our home fans, most of them think that we only perform for European audiences.
"We want to build confidence in our people and that is why we are lining up as many shows as possible in the country," he said.
He added that they were working on a countrywide tour beginning next month.
"We want to be local, this is where we live and where we come from so it is important that we take our music to all places in the country.
"We are working with the Minister of Information and Publicity Webster Shamu. We will be touring Manicaland and Mashonaland in the coming months but our first stop is Matabeleland North next month".
For the past 32 years, the traditional accapella singers have maintained their place as the country's ambassadors and custodians of the Imbube music genre.
They have travelled extensively to several parts of Europe where their music is highly appreciated
Some of their popular hits are Take Me Home, Shosholoza, Asigwabilamadimoni, Ngiyamaz'ubaba, Malaika, Unankwa Wezigodo, Yes Lord, I Remember and Unity.
The group will leave the country for their annual tour to Europe in October.
Source - chronicle
