VETERAN musician, Nicholas Zakaria, who has been struggling to release his new album has been thrown a lifeline by the Zimbabwe Business and Arts Hub (Zibah) to produce his latest six-track album, Takomborerwa.
BY WINSTONE ANTONIO
The “Senior Lecturer”, as Zakaria is popularly known after mentoring a lot of local sungura greats, has starved his fans for almost three years after his last album, Rumbidzo, was released in 2014.
Now a member of the Walter Magaya-led Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries’ worship team, Zakaria had long dropped the moniker, Madzibaba, which was a tribute to his former apostolic sect.
Zibah chairperson, Takemore Mazuruse, told NewsDay yesterday that Zakaria deserved a helping hand.
“Nicholas Zakaria, among other sungura pacesetters like Alick Macheso, has a special place in the local music industry and as Zibah, we are helping him with the production, marketing and distribution of the new album,” he said, adding that preparations for the launch were going according to plan.
Zakaria’s latest offering, which is his 27th studio album, will now be launched on April 1, at Aquatic Complex in Chitungwiza after it had been deferred on several occasions, owing to financial constraints.
Mazuruse said the launch will also be graced by Progress Chipfumo, Andy Muridzo, Tryson Chimbetu, Cindy Munyavi as well as Charles and Olivia Charamba.
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On the latest album, Zakaria collaborated with his former guitarists, Macheso after they split two decades ago, younger brother Zakaria Zakaria and fellow Sungura musician, Simon Mutambi.
Macheso featured on two tracks as he played the bass guitar on song Mira Pako and added his vocals on a Chewa track, Mwambo (Law), while Mutambi featured on Sarudzo.
Zakaria was ecstatic over the latest developments: “We are happy to have people who appreciate our talent and have heard our pleas to help us to release and launch this album. I had failed and struggled to do it alone, hence all the delays, but the coming in of our partners has changed the situation and soon the album will be on the market.”
He appealed to his fans to buy original copies of CDs once the album was out, and called on the authorities to do more to clampdown piracy.
