Zimbabwe jazz artist calls for support
Zimbabwe’s Afro-jazz crooner Melusi Khumalo has urged Malawians to support the genre, observing that the country has the potential of doing great on the international scene.
In an interview after a tour of Malawi that saw him performing in Blantyre on Friday and Lilongwe on Saturday, he said bands such as Mafilika have the potential of flying Malawi to international stardom, but need support from local fans.
“There was poor patronage at Mibawa while Lilongwe was okay. Things can change for the better if people change attitude towards foreign artists and the genre of music. Of course, I understand that our genre is different from the rest and it is for a certain group of people.
“But what I saw is definitely what I anticipated having put in so much publicity. Malawians can do better starting with fellow locals like Mafilika. The band is one of the best in southern Africa and requires enormous support within the country before they go outside,” he said.
While acknowledging that he is not disappointed with the low turnout, Khumalo said the few that came to the shows had the best time.
“We had to go ahead with the shows and the patrons really enjoyed what we offered them. These are the people who will spread the message to those that missed out and next time, we will definitely have a crowd. I will be back soon with gigs, as such I am optimistic of the future,” he said.
