Confident sisters in jazz

NNASARETHA KGAMANYANE
Correspondent | Thursday August 23, 2012 00:00

 

The Sekani sisters from Moroka, whose stage name is Kanvuthu, are amongst some of the young people who have developed an interest and passion for jazz.  Kanvuthu is a kalanga word meaning home.  'We call ourselves Kanvuthu because we are proudly Kalanga.  This name means that our language is our pride as it speaks about where we originate from,' said Winnie Sekani while her sister, Kudzani, nodded. Kanvuthu has been seen on stage several times as back-up singers for local jazz legend Ndingo Johwa.

Kudzani said that she and her sister, with whom she resides spend a lot of time together. Both share a similar passion for music. She says they do music on a part-time basis because both are employed.  'Our music is classic. It has African rhythms and a modified cultural aspect.  We sing jazz because we like it.  Our jazz songs describe who we are as Africans,' she added.Even though they faced a lot of challenges when embarking on their music career, the sisters have survived and  will be releasing their sophomore album titled, My Lingo My Pride in September. 

'We will be promoting it for the first time during the Domboshaba Cultural and Heritage Festival where we will also sell it,' the sisters said.The album has eight tracks and the musicians say the album was produced by Monde Makande, Tinashe Nyamariba 'Dublin' and Dargie of DDS.  All the songs were mixed and mastered by Tshepo Lesole.'The first album is called Londozela, which means to do things in an orderly manner. It was released in 2010 and has six tracks two of which are instrumentals,' said Kudzani.  She said that even though the album was well-received by fans, it did not do well in the market.

Winnie added that their first album was in high demand but poor management prevented it from getting the exposure it deserved. They were unable to do anything about this problem because they were prevented from doing so by a contract they had signed.  Interestingly, she says she would not advice anyone to enter into a contract because she believes contracts never work out. The pair performed in South Africa last year after the South African High Commissioner to Botswana invited them to the Pondo Cultural and Heritage annual Festival in the Eastern Cape.  They also performed at the Domboshaba Festival where they met Ndingo Johwa who was impressed by their performance and started working with them.

Johwa performed with them at the Botswana National Sports Awards 2012, the President's Day Awards and many other events where they were his back up singers.  They will be performing at the Zimbabwe Annual Cultural Festival in Harare where they will sell and market their latest album. 'We believe that we are going far in this career. We will sing until our hair turns grey as our music is appealing to people of all ages. Unlike other genres, it does not limit people from performing until they reach a certain age,' Kudzani explained. Kanvuthu said that they are keen on teaching other young people and any other interested individuals about jazz music because they have learnt from the best.  They also expressed interest in working on charity efforts, especially for the youth in Dunwai.

'We wish the government would let us host some shows for such people as they also deserve to be empowered with knowledge and need to be entertained.  As musicians we play a major role in many people's lives so it would be wise for the government to let us do some charity shows there to help those kids and inform and educate them on the many issues that affect their daily lives,' Kudzani added.