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Entertainment Editor
About a decade ago, Kireni Zulu shook the showbiz scene with his one-guitar performances that stole the hearts of many music followers.
From one venue to the other, Kireni would attract full-houses and serve his fans with delicious platters of jokes and mind-teasers.Rising from a solo performer at the defunct small Club M5 in at Westlea Shopping Centre to a leader of an abnormally big group for a solo guitarist that would fill Mushandirapamwe Hotel in Highfield to the brims, Kireni’s career mirrored a fairytale.
He had many devotees that trailed his gigs regardless of distance. He knew some of his ardent followers by names and would tease them at the shows. It was like a family affair. He even made his archrival Steve “Dhongi” Makoni envious.
However, after a couple of years Kireni fell from grace. His career crumbled at the hands of mismanagement and mistimed decisions.
Despite having so many dancers and a talented congas player, Kireni helplessly watched numbers peeling off his gigs. He became an ordinary musician whose only glitter among other artistes was his sense of humour.
He is still to dust himself from the hard fall off the high steps of the music ladder but the musician believes he will find his footing once again. He does not want to be called a spent-force and he sees a bright future.
Over the past couple of years, Kireni’s shows have been haphazard but the musician has decided to have a permanent base to reunite with his fans.
He now performs at City Sports Bar every Sunday. The guitarist says he hopes to reignite his colourful relationship with fans.
“The response has been encouraging since we started holding our Sunday shows at City Sports Bar,” he said.
“People are enjoying songs from our up-coming album that we want to release next month. I play all the songs at all shows and the response is great. I am not like other musicians that avoid playing up-coming songs for fear of piracy.
“My fans are the most important people in my career and I do my best to entertain them. These are what we call our ‘Sunday services’ and I encourage people to come and witness what we offer. We are hopeful the good old days will return through these weekly slots at City Sports Bar.”
Kireni has engaged a mbira group from Shamva called Dzivarembira that performs before him at the shows.
“I realised that the young mbira players are talented and our combination is good. Unlike other musicians that prefer working with youngsters of similar genres, I found it wise to take these guys who play a different genres because it brings diversity to our shows.”
Kireni’s Sunday slot sometimes coincides with big gigs at the venue.Recently he shared the stage with Peter Moyo and looks forward to combinations with other musicians at his “Sunday service”.
Online Reporter