Dendera maestro Suluman Chimbetu will start the New Year in style at the recently opened PaFio Arts Centre in Highfield with a potentially explosive gig slated for tonight at the venue.
The line-up for the show includes Josphat Somanje, Rute Mbangwa and proprietor of the joint, Tanga wekwaSando.
The concert becomes only the second high-profile gig to be hosted by the joint after it hosted Oliver Mtukudzi earlier this year.
Speaking in an interview with NewsDay Sulu expressed enthusiasm about the forthcoming show and said he was happy that he would be sharing the stage with the owner of the place who happens to be a musician.
“It is so encouraging to look at figures like Tanga and Mudhara Tuku seeing what they have done for Zimbabwean art. I will take the opportunity to congratulate Tanga for a job well done in being an icon. I envy his achievements and I also urge other musicians and artists to follow suit,” said Sulu. PaFio Arts Centre comprises a bar, butchery, open-air braai area and an enclosed live performance area.
Since its opening earlier this year, it has stood out as a beacon among nightspots as it set high standards.
Meanwhile, Sulu says he has managed to brush aside his band woes after his dancers were reported to have boycotted a show at Jazz 105.
He said he had since resolved the issue and was pleased the band was now stronger than ever.
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“Musicians are very unprofessional sometimes and I am sure you know I am not the first person to suffer from such actions. Even my father suffered such things. Even Tuku was in such a situation recently, but he acted upon it amicably. “What artists should know is that the institution is more important than the individual. Whoever influenced my former dancers to desert is now hated by the same dancers because they realise now that they have lost out, not me,” said Sulu.
All Sulu’s dancers boycotted the recent Jazz 105 show, resulting in him resorting to using younger brother Tinotenda and two friends.
Only one dancer, Darlington Chabata — aka Matoki or Michael Jackson — remains from the previous group, with some having defected to Tryson Chimbetu.
