The Standard Newspaper

bZimbabwe’s Wesa wows America Sunday, 08 May 2011 13:16

BY OUR STAFF

HER music – which is rooted in the exotic culture of Zimbabwe – tickles your soul, sweeps you into a swirl of unexpected energy and teases you into shaking off the dust of daily turmoil.

The rollicking African sound of Loveness Wesa – driven by the beat of inspired musicians in the Bantus Band – is Afro-pop and it takes you to a happy place.

That happy place is now here in Portland, a city in north western United States where Wesa has made her home after sharing her gifts of music and dance on tours around the globe, in Australia, Europe, Canada, Africa and the U.S.

It has been a joy creating her publicity images.

Among Wesa’s credits over the years, she lists performances for the likes of the Queen of England, Prince Edward, George Bush Senior and the President of South Africa Jacob Zuma.

Wesa tells of being one of the first female artists in Zimbabwe to write, choreograph and produce dance theatre shows performed mostly by women.

And she has been daring enough to play traditional drums in her act, defying a taboo in her homeland that once denied women in her culture a place behind a drum.

Loveness sees her style of entertainment as a vehicle to spread a message of peace, freedom and understanding.

Her music was inspired by her mother, aunt and grandmother who were sangomas – spiritual mediums who used song and dance to channel ancestral spirits.

Wesa’s sound merges ancient traditions with a modern twist and are adapted to both traditional and contemporary instruments.

Listen closely and you’ll hear the influences of musical legends including Miriam Makeba and Harry Belafonte.

Like Loveness, who danced endlessly as a child, her own 10 year old daughter, Shalom, adds sparkle to their stage performances.

The fifth-grader is a savvy entertainment vet who has been performing since she was three -danchristopherphotography.com

Loveness Wesa

Afro-pop star Wesa holds her own in the US Sunday, 12 September 2010 17:41

WHEN mbira music icon Dumisani Maraire relocated to the United States in the 1960s, very few Zimbabweans had any hopes of setting bases overseas.

But his move broke the ground for many talented artists who are now successfully plying their trades the world over.

Many names come to mind when arts careers overseas are mentioned but some artists have remained obscure at home, yet they are flying the country’s flag high every week in the foreign lands.

One such artist is Oregon-based Afro-pop music star Loveness Wesa who fronts a group known as The Bantus Band.

In most parts of Southern Africa, the name Bantu literally means “African”.

It is a name that compresses various tribes and ethnicity under one umbrella and seeks to foster a general identity burying flimsy differences among nations.

Wesa did just that with her band that brings together people of various backgrounds.

Although she coined the name when she was still in Zimbabwe about a decade ago, the real meaning of the name manifests itself in her US venture.

“My band’s name is called The Bantus Band,” Wesa emphasises.

“Bantu is a group of languages generally used as an identity for over 400 African ethnic groups.

“The Bantus Band is a group of musicians that speak different languages musically, but share the same visionary journey.

“I believe that you do not have to be black to be a Bantu, the band members in my group speak many languages but they all eat my Zimbabwean traditional food, like sadza and derere, dovi and many other dishes that I prepare once in a while.

“They have mastered my traditional dances in an amazing way.”

Wesa says her band comprises members from the US, Ghana and Nigeria.

Most of them worked with established international music groups before joining her.

But Wesa did not just go to the US without leaving an important arts trail back home.

After studying arts at Amakhosi Theatre, she worked with a number of popular arts figures in the country in her pursuit of music.

She is equally at home doing other art genres like drama but her heart is in music.

“I have not performed in Zimbabwe with the group I have here in the US but I used to perform in Bulawayo with my former band that comprised of the late Raymond Kasawaya, Lovescent Mhlanga, Vincent Gurure, Edith Katiji (before she formed her own band), Zimazile Mguni and Memory of Amabhoza, Enesia Mashusha of Mambokadzi dance troupe, Andrew Phakathi and Choice Dube.

“All the members were from Amakhosi Theatre.”

She says her band is interested in coming to Zimbabwe to show the country what the US has been experiencing in the past eight years.

Wesa last visited home in 2005 and she is itching to come back with a bang.

She is looking forward to a great return with her nine-member band to stage a historic show.

She has already visited Europe and Australia but a show back home is at the bottom of her heart.

She has so far released five albums namely Tovera, Brooms, Mukadzi WaMambo, Nada and Mvura.

Brooms was the title of a dance show that she produced in Zimbabwe before leaving.

It toured the country successfully.

Her major advantage is that she sings in six languages.

“My songs are in about six languages.

“I speak five of them fluently but I am still learning Kalanga — my grandmother’s language.

“I speak Sotho, Venda, Ndebele, Shona, and English very well and this ability has helped me mingle and socialise with various people across the country and abroad.”

She is one of the many artists that boast  having gone through the expert hands of Cont Mhlanga.

“I was trained at Amakhosi Theatre by a man I respect so much, without him I wouldn’t be where I am today. The man is  Mhlanga.

“I joined Amakhosi Theatre while I was still in secondary school. I had joined to do karate but little did I know that I was going to end up singing and dancing professionally.”

Wesa was born in Bulawayo but grew up in Beitbridge.

She went to Wabayi Primary School in Gwanda and Dendele Primary in Beitbridge before enrolling at Zezani Mission School for her secondary education.

Despite being away for so long, she still has very strong ties with Zimbabwe and hopes to take her art back here for good.

 

BY GODWIN MUZARI