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Ruth Butaumocho:Gender Editor
The revival of the rhumba outfit Diamond Musica could act as a major boost in resuscitating the waning fortunes of the beat in the face of other emerging genres in Zimbabwe in the last decade.Two of the founding members of Diamond Musica Pitshou Lumiere and Lyva Hassan Sulutan last week announced that they had started work to revive the band, reuniting with some of its band members who had relocated to other countries to pursue different business interests.
“We are now back together and to offer what other rhumba bands failed to do.
“We are urging both our old and new fans to brace for some good rhumba beats,” revealed Pitshou in an interview along the sidelines of Jean Master’s album launch in the capital last week.
The revival of the band comes at a time when there has been a general decline of rhumba on the showbiz scene, either in live shows of visiting or local artists.
Some clubs that were renowned rhumba joints have since closed shop owing to low attendance, whilst others have merely switched to cater for emerging genres such as dancehall, contemporary and sungura.
Locally assembled rhumba outfits the Sam Chamangwana led-BV Labien and the Real Sounds of Africa, have sunk into oblivion in the last few years, paving way for sungura, dendera, dancehall, gospel and the contemporary beat.
Despite the low uptake of rhumba in the country, Diamond Musica insists there is a robust market for rhumba that remains untapped, hence their decision to regroup.
“It is not true that rhumba has been overtaken by new genres, no. There was no rhumba that was being offered on the market from the time we disbanded.
“If you listen to a lot of sungura songs, there is a lot of rhumba influence, which is a clear indication that the market is certainly there,” Pitshou pointed out.
He added that his group will soon collaborate with several local artists working on different genres, to reinvigorate rhumba while accommodating other beats.
The group will hold its inaugural show this Friday at Club Veritas in Westlea.
Renowned for pioneering rhumba outfits in Zimbabwe, Diamond Musica, which originated from Democratic Republic of Congo- became a household name in Zimbabwe in 1999, two years after its formation, as a dance group, where it would curtain raiser for Oliver Mtukudzi among other top musicians.
The group finally found its footing following the release of a series of hits among them Sina Makosa, Amawule, Amai and Miniskirt.
The group’s choreography, enhanced by the talented dancing queens, also proved to be a crowd puller for its live shows.
However despite its success on the local market, the group disintegrated owing to internal squabbles resulting in some of the members leaving Zimbabwe for other countries on individual contracts.
Diamond Musica has five albums to its name, and is working on a single to be released soon.
Online Reporter