PAMBERI Trust, Magamba Network and popular music artistes of Zimbabwe will today celebrate Music Freedom Day at Book Café arts hub in Harare.
By Entertainment Reporter
Local artistes will be joining hands with thousands of artistes around the world to mark the annual Music Freedom Day set for March 3, show solidarity with persecuted artists all over the world, and focus on artistic freedom and censorship locally and globally.
While Egypt’s Dina El Wedidi will be performing in Oslo, Norway, Moroccan fusion rocker Réda Zine leads his band Voodoo Sound Club in a concert in Bologna, Italy, and exiled musicians from Sudan perform in Cairo, Zimbabwean artistes enter the stage in Harare in an exciting show at the Book Cafe from 8pm, featuring veteran Zimbabwean reggae band Transit Crew, Selmor Mtukudzi, Jam Signal, Livesoul and upcoming soul singer, Kevin Munetsi aka Keali.
“The lineup is exciting and diverse and their combined effort is a strong ‘shout-out’ for music freedom and in solidarity with Zimbabwean musicians who have not enjoyed such freedoms in the past and present,” Pamberi Trust Arts administrator, Penny Yon said. She said Transit Crew had been pleasing reggae-lovers for three decades, and had never been afraid to voice their concerns about freedom in Zimbabwe in their music.
Yon added that as respected professionals in the local music industry, they lead the way for younger artistes like the delightful Selmor Mtukudzi¸ who enjoyed new freedoms to speak out as a modern young African woman and Jam Signal, a hot young trio of jazzists who came to light at the last October World Music Festival at Book Café – who had now found the opportunity to express the concerns of their own generation and participate in such global events.
“Pamberi Trust has been working in partnership with Magamba Network to commemorate World Music Freedom Day for the past three years and this Music Freedom Day, Magamba presents the insightful, poetic social commentary of emcee and cultural activist Livesoul who believes that “hip hop culture, in its truest, form is a vehicle of community development and positive change,” she said.
Earlier on the day, local poets will join in the Music Freedom Day from 2-5pm in House of Hunger Poetry Slam which provides a high-energy platform for around 25 poets each month.
