Sereetsi to tour SADC region
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Wednesday March 1, 2017 16:16
Sereetsi told Showbiz yesterday that their tour would start in South Africa on April 15, 2017.
Four-time BOMU award winner, Kgalagadi Soul - an international collaboration led by Sereetsi - will be performing alongside Mumba Yachi, who is also UN Ambassador for Gender Equality in Zambia and AusTebza, musical director at the 2016 Feather Awards in South Africa.
The trio will present a fresh contemporary repertoire that draws from the rich rhythmic diversity of Southern Africa backed by A-list musicians from the US, Zimbabwe and the Congo.
“We have garnered a lot of respect and accolades in our home countries, including a growing international presence. My music has become the soundtrack of our country with just the quality of my debut album, Four String Confessions, which yielded hits such as Robete and Thaa Kokome,” he said.
Zumba Yachi is one of the leading lights in the Zambian music industry. He has been an inspirational act for years, with a priceless soulful delivery that has seen him collaborating on stage with acts such as Sibongile Khumalo. He pairs his powerful vocal range with an acoustic guitar.
AusTebza is an amazing bassist, bandleader, composer and singer from South Africa. Her new album is creating waves in South Africa, receiving healthy airplay from radio stations across the country.
The album shows off her groove, sharp compositional abilities and her polished singing chops. She remains one of South Africa’s respected bassists with clients such as HHP and Tshepo Tshola to name just a few. He said Kgalagadi Soul’s backing band will comprise of musicians from Congo (Nseka Bienvenu - lead-guitar), South Africa (Bokang Kupi - keyboards), Zimbabwe (Leroy Nyoni - drums) as well as the USA (Terry Lewis - saxophone), which makes this tour a strong collaborative affair.
“Kgalagadi Soul will be doing workshops during the tour in cities we will be performing at. We want to share our knowledge with young and aspiring musicians,” he said.
The one-day workshop will be structured as follows:
Sereetsi whose 83-page four-string folk guitar instructional book/CD has been approved by Botswana Education Ministry as supplementary material in schools. He will be leading the workshops. He said he will be teaching the technique of playing a modern guitar on four strings. A tradition championed by herdboys on a self-made tin guitar.
Mumba Yachi (Zambia) will be sharing his experiences in the international music business scene. AusTebza (South Africa) will also share her experiences as a performer, a session musician, a bandleader and a woman in the tough music industry. Kgalagadi Soul will rehearse and perform together towards the end of March as the tour commences.
Sereetsi confirmed that they had been booked for the Kgalagadi Jazz Festival in South Africa on April alongside acts such as Judith Sephuma, Zonke and Ringo. He said other tour dates into other SADC countries will soon be announced.