BY FREEMAN MAKOPA
AWARD-WINNING Afro-jazz singer and songwriter, Victor Kunonga (pictured) has said the growth of the jazz genre has been affected by a number of factors, adding that it should be inculcated in children so that they learn to use instruments at an early stage of their lives.
Kunonga, who has bounced back into the music arena with his latest offering Ndatsva, largely themed on tolerance and the power of love, told NewsDay life & Style that the genre needed more support and media space in order to speed up its growth.
“Jazz is a broad term. Jazz is subject to interpretation and Zimbabwe has had some of the greatest jazz artistes in the world. Oliver Mtukudzi is a good example. Broadly speaking, his music does fall under this category,” he said.
“Growth in terms of the jazz genre has been affected by a number of factors. Less and less musicians are involved in it as opposed to yesteryear, where a number of musicians whose names are very popular today explored it. The eras are different too, which may be a factor. A lot needs to be done to promote jazz. This must be instilled in us from an early age by teaching our children how to use the instruments to record and perform live for audiences. We also need adequate media space to promote the genre.”
The Maidarirei hitmaker said his breakthrough into the music industry was necessitated by the help of veteran musicians.
“I believe my breakthrough was the recording process that involved renowned names in the industry, Sam Mataure, Kelly Rusike, Manasa Mujawo, Prudence Katomeni-Mbofana, Victor Duarte, Zivanai Masango, Nqobile Magwizi and Richie Lopez, who humbly agreed to be involved in the recording of an unknown artiste. I had booked to record my album at Shed Productions where Rusike and Mujawo were the producers,” Kunonga said.
“In shaping up the ideas, Kelly saw it fit to invite the artistes mentioned above to interpret and perform on it. That straight way was the breakthrough. I’ll always be so grateful to these fantastic musicians. I’d also want to credit the media, guys like Innocent Manase, Tony Friday and D Train, Violet Makoto, Anna Miti, Tich Mataz, the librarians then and many more radio announcers that believed in me. I also had few believers, for example FG Gijima, whom I believe was my first live performance fan. The Book Cafe’s Paul Brickhill, Josh Hozheri of Jazz 105 and many more gave me the opportunity to present myself.”
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He said the highlight of his career was being able to interact with musicians that he grew up listening to as a child, who include Zexie Manatsa, Mtukudzi, Louis Mhlanga, Steve Dyer, Dorothy Masuka, Miriam Makeba, Andy Brown, Chiwoniso Maraire, Ambuya Stella Chiweshe, Lovemore Majaivana, the Cool Crooners and Yvonne Chakachaka.
The Handinete singer said he still felt there was a huge gap left behind by yesteryear artistes which needed to be filled.
“I look at the industry today and the general feeling I get is that we have regressed. Though we have many more artistes because of independent labels and technology, we no longer have the quality to measure up internationally. Our best musicians still remain those of yesteryear and regrettably, we have lost most of these musicians. The prospect of continuing their legacy excites me and yet the route to it has been littered with unending obstacles. You’d have to look at our artistes’ welfare to understand what I am talking about.”
