Sofar Sounds Harare wrapped up its 16th edition with a show at the new Vanilla Moon on December 21, featuring teenage Afro-traditional outfit Ukama Band, guitarist and composer Matt Greenwood who performed with pianist Nick Nare and multi-instrumentalist Othnell Mangoma Moyo.
Afro-traditional folk artist Tendex made a return for the second time, having performed at the 13th edition hosted at Prince Edward High School in June last year.
The Harare chapter of the global music network was launched three years ago at the original Vanilla Moon location in Mount Pleasant, prior to the coffee shop's relocation to its current Ashbrittle premises.
“We symbolically marked the concert as our third anniversary and hope to follow up with the celebrations in February or March,” city curator Khumbulani Muleya told Standard Style.
“Hosting the show here evoked memories of the journey we have travelled so far.”
As has become the norm with Sofar shows, a multi-racial audience turned up at the venue and gave the artists their undivided attention and appreciation.
MC Michar Mushiko effortlessly led proceedings, making sure attendees were immersed in the experience of intimate live music.
The opening act, Ukama Band, made an appearance courtesy of Sofar Harare's partnership with Music Crossroads Academy Zimbabwe (MCAZ).
The youngsters, whose age group ranges between 14 and 21, are fresh from Belgium, where they won the Imagine Music Xperience (IMX) International Final 2024 in Brussels.
The competition included young musicians from 10 countries, including Belgium, Finland, France and Zimbabwe. They are first-year students at MCAZ.
The next set saw Tendex exhibiting a skilful presentation where he fused his powerful vocal projections with the haunting sounds of the Mbira instrument, rhythmic shakers and innovation loopstation techniques much to the delight of the audience.
The artist recently released a new single titled Gumbeze featuring rapper Trae Yung. He is also part of the Black on Black cast, a local movie that premiered at Ster Kinekor in December last year.
Matt Greenwood jetted in from the United States, where he is pursuing a master’s programmes at the prestigious Berklee Global Jazz Institute in Boston.
Performing as a trio, they closed of the show with a largely instrumental oriented performance alongside Nick Nare and Othnell Mangoma Moyo on percussion.
Moyo also arrived from the US where he was an artist in residence at Kutsinhira Cultural Arts Centre in Eugene.
Their performance was fluid, with Greenwood's guitar expressing guiding melodies, while Nare and Moyo delivered a beautiful fusion of jazz and Afro-centric percussion riffs.
The garden setting of the child friendly coffee shop provided an intimate occasion that blended perfectly with the experimental display of diverse sounds, showcasing the epitome of pure musicianship between three artists who have performed with each other for many years.
“I have known Matt since the early days of Miombo, where he was a regular performer. Over the years, we have shared the stage on several occasions, often alongside Nare, whom I have had the pleasure of knowing since my move to Harare from Bulawayo,” Mangoma reflected during an interview at Heart and Soul studios recently.
Matt has performed and recorded with legendary Zimbabwean artists including the late Oliver Mtukudzi, Gemma Griffiths, Forward Kwenda and Vee Mukarati as well as Robi Botos, Mark Kelso, Brian Dickinson and Mike Downes who are considered some ofCanada’s most acclaimed jazz musicians. His debut album titled Atlas was released in January last year, receiving critical acclaim.
Sofar shows that took place on the same day in other cities across the world, included Réunion Island, Vienna (Austria), Lima (Peru) and El Paso (USA).