Chronicle Editor
Mbulelo Mpofu, Showbiz Reporter
AFTER His resurrection, Jesus gave the Great Commission to His disciples to assemble a team to spread the everlasting gospel.
In Bulawayo, a Christian musical outfit, Second Chance has heeded that call after releasing its debut collective project, The Summon which has the track Sabela on Good Friday.
The group, formed in 2022 and led by Mpopoma-born and bred multi-talented artiste, Tafadzwa “Zwa” Gapara fuses indigenous instruments in form of marimba and mbira in their sound.
In an interview, Zwa told Chronicle Showbiz that she saw a gap within the gospel genre that needed exploiting.
“In our genre, there has been heavy reliance on the use of Western instruments and this has led to the neglect of our own indigenous instruments. I saw the need to change that with the use of marimba and mbira fused with the guitars and keyboards to create a unique sound altogether which will set us apart from the rest.
“With Sabela, we want to preach the gospel of the soon-coming Christ,” she said.
Second Chance’s discography includes songs such as Izingelosi, Ishe, Tenzi, and Bayethe. The songs were produced by Mokoomba lead guitarist Trust Samende while the creative director was Alexander Mhlanga.
Zwa said the bigger picture is shooting visuals for the project.
“We want to produce visuals for the whole project as an announcement of our existence in the music space and tell a story of the glad tidings of Christendom,” said Zwa.
Over the years, Zwa, who is a marimba specialist has worked and toured with several professional musicians and groups which include Royal Vibrations Marimba Band in South Africa, Grammy-winning Soweto Gospel Choir, Lelo Langa, Amavithikazi, and Albert Nyathi.
She is a composer, performer and music teacher who has an Honours degree in Music and Musicology from the Midlands State University and a professional music certificate from Music Crossroads. She has also dedicated her time to voluntarily teaching music at Sandra Jones Centre and at the You Have It In You foundation.
She was once supported by the Zimbabwe Music Festival in presenting some African choral singing workshops as well as marimba workshops in the United States of America. — @MbuleloMpofu
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