admina spectacular show dubbed “5-1-2”.
The title “5-1-2” is derived from the total number of albums released by the three leading ladies of song to date.
Dudu Manhenga leads the cast with five albums, followed by weUtonga with two and Tariro with one.
2013 has been a god year for the trio, who recently released albums within a week of each other. Upcoming afrosoul musician Tariro neGitare got the ball rolling with her self-titled debut album which was launched at a colourful ceremony at The Cave Affair, Domboshava, on April 21.
Three days later, Dudu Manhenga, unveiled her fifth album simply titled “For You” at the Book Café. Dudu has four other albums to her name —
“Out of the Blu” (2003), “Jula” (2007), “Towards Alignment” (2009) and “Ngangiwe” (2011).
Not to be outdone, jazz sensation Edith weUtonga dropped her second album “Kwacha” on her birthday — April 27. Her first album “Utonga” was released in 2009.
First on stage was Tariro, fresh from her maiden tour of Germany followed by her date at Hifa. She warmed up the fans on a chilly Saturday evening as she sampled tracks from her debut album beginning with the soulful “Ndisiyei Ndakadaro”, “Ndinokuda Iwe”, “Zuva neZuva”, love ballads and crowd favourites “Mawara” and “Unondifonera Back”, before she and Edith WeUtonga literally set the stage on fire with the fast-paced “Wildfire”.
It was just the spark the revellers needed to get into the party mood as Edith took over the proceedings, with her own playlist comprising plug tracks such as “Ruchiva”, “Rudo”, “Mukaranga” and “Chipendani”.
“Mukaranga” , Edith explained, “ is a song dedicated to all those hardworking women, be they cross-border traders, businesswomen or musicians like myself, Tari and Dudu, who work tirelessly to put food on their table.”
“It’s about you and me,” she said gesturing to the women in the audience, who responded with wild cheers.
Edith and Tari then went on to delight the fans as they rekindled their partnership when the latter cut her musical teeth as a member of Edith weUtonga’s band before going solo.
Before handing over the baton to Dudu, she appealed to members of the audience to support them by buying their original CDs, and not pirated copies.
Veteran Dudu had the honour of bringing the curtain down on the “5-1-2” show with her customary spell-binding act revolving around her 11-trach album “For You”, launched at the same venue on April 24.
“For You” is a departure from Dudu’s previous offerings as it contains a number of sing-along praise and worship songs which reaffirm Dudu’s faith in God. It comprises soothing tracks like “Yours”, “Wethembekile”,
“Rutiziro”, “Dwala”, “Handityi” and “Ndinoshamiswa”.
Although it is purely a gospel album you cannot miss Dudu’s trademark beat and sizzling vocals, that evoke memories of legendary South African songbird Miriam Makeba and Brenda Fassie and superbly complemented by the use of the saxophone.
“I decided to work on a gospel musical project to thank the Lord for the gift of life and sustenance. It has been a long journey to be where I am right now. I just want to give all the credit to the Almighty for my family, career, opportunities that I have had and everything that I have got. In short; it’s an okay album,” she said the diva, whose music has been described as a fusion of: afro, contemporary, Zimbabwe traditional, township, jazz, afro, Latino and a cultural cross-breed of Zimbabwe’s Shona and Ndebele rhythms and melodies.
In response to overwhelming public demand, Dudu also sampled tracks from her yesteryear albums, such as “Mvura Ngainaye”.
Like Edith, Dudu made an impassioned plea to fight piracy. “Thanks for coming to support us. I hope you will continue to do so by buying our CDs and shunning pirated ones.”
Online Reporter
Peter Tanyanyiwa