BY WINSTONE ANTONIO THE wait is finally over for fans of Harare-based Seventh Day Adventist musical group, The Vine.
After almost four months of waiting, The Vine fans have something to give them smiles after the group started releasing videos, over the weekend, off their live recorded 12-track album titled The Great Physician.
The album was recorded live on April 30 at Harare International Conference Centre as the 15-member musical group took its music exploits to another level.
The Great Physician marked The Vine’s emphatic return from a four-year sabbatical.
Founded in 2014, the group released debut album Musandipfuure in 2018.
On the latest live recording, the group collaborated with a South African Grammy award-winning Soweto gospel choir, Mahalia Buchanan, Mabongi Mabaso and a 40-piece orchestra among others.
The group showed how serious it is about its craft after invested heavily for the live recording that had a well-designed state-of-the-art stage.
The first video released over the weekend is Imbirai Jehovah and it features Mabaso, a famous South African gospel diva.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
“After the release of Imbirai Jehovah, other videos will be released every Friday for the next three months. We want to at least give people time to watch each video without it having to be overshadowed by the other,” The Vine manager Gamuchirai Mlalazi told NewsDay Life & Style.
“On the local radio charts, it is amazing that my songs Ndokutewera and Inyang’ Enkulu from The Vine featuring Soweto Gospel Choir have been doing well for the past three to four months.
“All our music is available on all digital platforms as well as YouTube. As we seek to take our brand beyond the borders, we are planning to host a big show in South Africa at the end of September if everything goes according to script.”
The group is promising more fireworks for the fans before the end of the year.
In a recent interview, The Vine director Everton Mlalazi said it had been a very long, but fulfilling experience working on The Great Physician album.
“We have been working on this project behind the scenes. The Vine started working on this project in earnest in 2020, but the work came to a stop after the outbreak of COVID-19,” he said then.
“At first, we thought the work was going to resume soon, but that was not the case. We had to come up with a workaround to still get the project done regardless of the situation.”
Mlalazi said the COVID-19 pandemic was a source of more inspiration for the album.
“The situations that people experience need a great physician; and when confronted by situations that are beyond our comprehension we turn to God for answers. At a time a disease is causing havoc everywhere (such as COVID-19) and we do not know how to cure it, is when the great physician becomes the centre of our focus. We cannot help, but look to God for all the answers we need because he is a great physician,” he added.
Some of the songs featured on the album produced by Nigel Nyangombe include title track, The Great Physician, God Can, Ndimi Simba, Psalms 94, Prayer and Pass Me Not Oh Gentle Saviour.
- Follow Winstone on Twitter@widzoanto
