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Kadzuwa’s glow

Surrender yourself to a call of good things. Take a stroll to Blantyre’s new perch—Mibawa Café opposite Protea Ryalls Hotel on the evening of a Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

The face of the prestigious talents packed in the resident band stands is a natural haired, medium female frame.

She is Eunice Tathokoza Kadzuwa who, at 22, is an embodiment of a rare music flair.

The music of her immensely art-endowed young life has the town singing her name.

She is at home touring across ages. She adeptly switches from pitch to pitch, genre to genre.

Among her stops are Percy Sledge’s When a man Loves a Woman, Fred Mercury and Queen’s I want to Break Free, Asa’s Jailor, Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Evison Matafale’s Zaka Zonsezi and Dolly Parton’s Just Because I’m a Woman.

“It’s great, fantastic! I don’t know what happens in other bands, but I’m happy here,” she is that brief.

And to this loveable story, add her equally impressive act on screen or the theatre stage.

She has featured in Nanzikambe Arts’ three well known plays and played Dora in Story Workshop’s 2010 film, Who Cares? [Wokomaatani]. It is a film on challenges to HIV and Aids home-based care in Malawi.

A few weeks ago, she got a call from one of the country’s adroit sons in music, Ben Mankhamba, asking if she was interested in a vocalist role with some live band.

Mankhamba was long informed of Kadzuwa’s ability from Nanzikambe’s plays which had music in some scenes; Kadzuwa braved such parts with ease of a hot knife slicing through butter.

She had in fact impressed Mankhamba as they co-worked on a Blantyre Arts Festival 2011 theme song.

“I got a text from Ben and I jumped at the offer. I met Mibawa band leader JJ Munthali and fished out a phone on which were recorded some of my seven songs. It seemed to work to my advantage and here I am,” says Kadzuwa.

The rest is history.

The factors in the making of the gem were spread across a couple of elements, among them a rich history in music in her family.

In fact, her brother Francis was among the top thrills in a local music competition, E-Wallet, a couple of years ago.

Born on 25 August, 1989, last of seven siblings—three boys and four girls—she is a daughter of the beautiful lake district Mangochi’s Kankhande Village, T/A Nankumba in Monkey Bay area.

Due to the nature of her father’s employment, the family was constantly on the move, which made her wander from one school to another as the father was transferred from district to district.

She eventually sat primary school leaving examinations at St Augustine in Mzuzu where she was also introduced to drama via an Aids Toto club.

She proceeded to Katoto Secondary School in 2003, where she was introduced to the Association of Teaching English in Malawi (Atem) drama competition by teacher and drama patron Leslie Ndovie.

By 2006, she was at Chichiri Secondary School in Blantyre where she did her Form 4; she added a crucial element to her today’s sojourn; she was decked with the honour of best English speaker.

In 2007, while at home, she joined Nanzikambe Theatre Lab and featured in Tariro—a production on Zimbabwe’s economic crisis. It featured talents from the UK, Malawi, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

In 2009, she was back in class to re-sit MSCE, still at Nanzikambe though.

The year 2010 polished her now proven talent. Apart from The Frogs—an adaptation of the comedy written by the ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes, she also featured in a Tariro remake and Makwacha Hipopera, both of which toured South Africa at a theatre festival in Grahamstown.

She then got into the romance with Story Workshop.

September that year saw her and Nanzikambe colleague Misheck Mzumara fly to Germany where they featured in Junges Theatre’s act, Mutter Africa [Mother Africa]—a look at slavery. She played Aba, the slave girl, as Mzumara played Kojo, the slave boy.

Back home in January 2011, she recorded seven songs at Pro Pee studios, under producer Percy Manyozo.

She is yet to launch, waiting on some green light that promised to sponsor her to finish putting together an album.

“Playing in a band has had me appreciate how unpleasant too loud a sound could be,” says Kadzuwa.

“I listen to a lot of music and I love nice and lively female talent.”

Her quick pick recognises Beyonce Knowles, Mariah Carey, Nomvula of Freshly Ground and Shakira.

“Malawi has the potential, but sometimes undue criticism [when, for instance a woman joins a band] gets too much; it could be from family, friends or beyond,” she cherishes the support she gets from her dad.

“Somehow, artists are not respected. Entertainers, mainly women singers outside gospel music—especially singing in a club—get it tough.”

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