October Jazz Fest takes off tonight

counterparts, in a combination that will serenade revellers for a good five days.
From South Africa, the festival will host Zulu maskanda guitarist Bheki Khoza, who will collaborate with local jazz crooner Victor Kunonga and the Bulawayo Kwela Kings at an event that will be held at the Book Café tonight.
Hip-hop pioneers Tumi and the Volume will swing the rhythm with our own mbira diva Chiwoniso Maraire in what promises to be a thrilling encounter.
Khoza is famous for mixing classical jazz with elements of township jazz and the Zulu maskanda beat, while Kunonga is a seasoned artiste who has established himself as both a talented guitarist and a lyricist of repute.
On the other hand, Tumi and the Volume are no newcomers to Harare, having performed at different musical forums in the country in the last two years.
This year, Tumi and the Volume enthralled music lovers at the Harare International Festival of the Arts and repeated the same feat at the Shoko Festival a few weeks ago.
Their performance with Maraire will actually strengthen the bond that now exists between them after they collaborated in July at a musical festival held in Rwanda.
According to online reports, Maraire and Tumi and the Volume created an unforgettable blend of soulful mbira with hip-hop beat, poetry and funked-up jazz, that had everyone up and dancing
Another collaboration that is expected to thrill the crowd is that of “Shaina” hit-maker Alexio Kawara and well-known South African afro-pop superstar Ntando Bangani, who are also expected to rock the stage tonight.
Bangani, known for the hit song Dali Wami, will be making his debut performance in Zimbabwe, although he has headlined other prominent jazz events, among them the Cape Town Jazz festival, which has become an annual and revered jazz festival across Africa.
Other artistes that are expected to complete the line-up include Prudence Katomeni-Mbofana, Dudu Manhenga and her Color Blu outfit, Hope Masike, Pablo Nakkapa, Josh Meck, Sunsets, Ammara Brown, Rute Mbangwa, Patience Musa and Richie Loppes.
The beauty about this year’s event is that it will not be held at one venue but will take place at three different venues — Celebration Centre, the Italian Club and Murehwa Cultural Centre.
Those keen on having their knowledge on jazz and music in general edified, can also attend dance, film screening, interviews and workshops, where African collaborations with major regional artistes will be showcased.
Emerging jazz artistes of Harare and the colours of world music mbira, hip-hop, afro-pop, and soul embracing jazz, who want to contribute to Zimbabwe’s rich pool of world music, will be showcased as part of the jazz festival.
In a statement, the Pamberi Trust, which is organising the event in partnership with the Italian Embassy and National Arts Council, said the event was ready to take off.
“With everything on the ground in full swing, the artistes are primed and ready to deliver and the festival promises to be hot and happening.
“It is a great celebration of freedom of expression through jazz with something for everyone,” read the statement.
Now in its fourth year, the October International Jazz Festival and World Musical Festival has grown in scope and presence from the time it started.
The jazz initiative actually started with the Italian Embassy after it decided to bring some of its prominent jazz musicians in a bid to enrich the tradition of jazz in Zimbabwe.
Since then, the country has seen a growing community of jazz that now looks forward to the event each year. The October International Jazz Festival is one the growing number of jazz events now held in the country each                  year.
The Winter Jazz Festival, the brainchild of Josh Hozheri of Jazz 105, and the Harare Jazz Festival are some of the jazz festivals that have contributed to the popularity of the genre in Zimbabwe.