Lwazi Tshabangu fully recovers and ready to roll

Musician Lwazi Tshabangu, who was down with piles since last December, says he has fully recovered and now ready to get back on stage. The talented singer whose music fuses different elements like mbaqanga, maskanda and jazz, told The Herald that his long absence from live performances was a result of his illness.

"I feel better now, at least I can walk and do the rounds on my own. Since last December I haven't been well because I developed piles and it was so hell for me," he said.

He, however, was looking forward to resuming his live performances in city centre where he used to command a huge following.

"I intend to start holding shows in a couple of days and hopefully people will attend my shows like they used to. I am starting shows in the city centre before I move out of Harare," he said.

Hemorrhoids or piles, is the swelling and inflammation of veins in the rectum and increased straining during bowel movements, by constipation, diarrhoea, pregnancy, hypertension, obesity . . . smoking and excessive consumption of alcohol or caffeine may lead to hemorrhoids.

Tshabangu's debut album, "Kumnyama" released in 2002, gave many fans hope that he would fill the void left by the relocation of Lovemore Majaivana, his mentor of many years, to the United States.

However, that was not to be as the  promising youngster did the opposite of what people expected of him, disappearing from the music scene.

On the few occasions that he appeared, he would either be a sound engineer or stage manager for other artistes.

He, however, proved critics wrong with the release of his second album, titled "Ithuba Lami" (It's My Time).

"I was still putting everything together as I did not want to give my fans half-baked projects.

"I wanted to take my time to come up with a product that would not leave anyone doubting my abilities. I also used the opportunity to refine my stage routines," he once said.

Indeed, "Ithuba Lami" showed that Tshabangu had come of age.

The project was produced in a manner that other artistes will find difficult to imitate. He also weaned himself as a Majaivana wanna-be through well-laid out beats and lyrics.

In his first, project Lwazi tried to revive Majaivana's music, but he had to bear the negative effects of this, as his music was not received in the manner he thought it would.

The eight-track "Ithuba Lami", enabled Tshabangu's music to appeal to different social and age groups. Tracks such as "Ngwalo Ngwalo", "Abantu Balapha" and "Ndabezinengi" borrowed heavily from popular traditional isiNdebele tunes, which were creatively re-arranged to give them a modern feel.

The other tracks, "Ngithembise", "Ngiyele", "Bayala" and "Emoyeni Wami" were also inspired by folklore songs.