SARUNGANO SHINES IN IRELAND

Trust Khosa

PAKARE Paye Arts Centre’s product, Innocent “Sarungano” Kufanesu, had a memorable time in Ireland over the weekend, where he staged two shows.

The multi-instrumentalist met the Zimbabwean community resident in Ireland and gave them a real treat.

He shared the stage with Ngoni Kambarami and UK-based chanter Quonfuzed.

Sarungano belted out his own compositions and renditions of the late Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi’s tracks.

Speaking to H-Metro, after their performance at Pillo Hotel in Dublin, Sarungano’s manager, Eugine Museredza, said they nailed it.

“We were pleasantly surprised and overwhelmed with the kind of support we received and how our music has reached the diaspora market.

“It’s always a humbling experience to see people singing word for word.

“Being our first time in Europe, particularly Ireland, we never expected this kind of response,” he said.

After delivering a vintage performance on the Day of the African Child, Sarungano ended up getting a private show, which was not part of his schedule.

“We had two gigs, one public gig at Pillo Hotel in Dublin where we shared the stage with Qounfuzed and Ngoni Kambarami.

“The other was a private event hosted by a group of women from Zimbabwe called ‘Women Of Ireland,’ which was co-hosted by the Nyaradzo Group.

“It was a humbling experience once again as people showed their faith in us.”

Musereza believes the Ireland tour has opened new doors for them.

“We will be having another European tour this year with more gigs in Ireland and the United Kingdom, we have a market to satisfy here,” he said.

Following the success of their European tour, Museredza’s camp is pleased with the appeal of their music.

“We can safely say our brand has space to occupy around the world, Europe was an eye-opener.”

Sarungano, who plays several instruments including the acoustic guitar, lead guitar, saxophone and mbira, is one of the consistent performers to emerge under Tuku’s great tutelage.

He has three albums to his credit.

His latest album, Nevanji The Prince, which he released in November last year, is doing well on the charts.