The upcoming show at The State Theatre will feature Thandiswa Mazwai and Msaki, as well as Nduduzo Makhathini and Sipho Hotstix Mabuse.
The daughter of immigrants from Rwanda and Uganda and born in Illinois, acclaimed vocalist, composer, and writer Somi Kakoma has arrived in South Africa. Picture: Supplied.
JOHANNESBURG – The daughter of immigrants from Rwanda and Uganda and born in Illinois, acclaimed vocalist, composer, and writer Somi Kakoma has arrived in South Africa.
Somi, as she’s known in the industry, will be performing her new album ZENZILE: The Reimagination of Miriam Makeba at The State Theatre in Pretoria on Sunday, 27 March.
READ: Inspired by Makeba, singer Somi hopes latest offering lives up to Mama Africa
The upcoming show at the State Theatre will feature Thandiswa Mazwai and Msaki, as well as Nduduzo Makhathini and Sipho Hotstix Mabuse.
MOLWEN! Feels so good to be back in South Africa. Im happy to announce that the #Zenzile album release concert will happen @sastatetheatre on Sunday 27 March at 7PM with special guests @thandiswamazwai @hotstixmabuse @nduduzomakhathini @msaki TIX: https://t.co/BwIjcRbr7j pic.twitter.com/Kgu187JFk1
Somi (@somimusic) March 23, 2022
Somi brought the project home to South Africa on the heels of a triumphant album celebration at the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York City where she featured five-time Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves as well as internationally celebrated South African singers Thandiswa Mazwai and Msaki.
“It was so important for me to bring this project honouring Mama Miriam back to the very place she called home. I’m deeply indebted to so many South African artists and friends who have held my hand through and to this moment. From early conversations with uBabu’ Hugh Masekela when I started thinking about making this project seven years ago to the generous offerings of the South African special guests on the album who stand firmly in her lineage and have taught me so much through their own work. In small and large ways, so many people have supported, taught, and reminded me of how her voice and legacy was and is truly Pan-African. That home-grown South African support is what gave me the courage to try to locate her voice inside of my own and I am deeply grateful,” said Somi.
THE JOURNEY TO MAKING ZENZILE
In recognition of Makeba’s resonance throughout Africa and the diaspora, Somi invited several special guests to perform on Zenzile: The Reimagination of Miriam Makeba including from South Africa: Grammy-winning male vocal group, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, singer-songwriter Msaki, vocalist and activist Thandiswa Mazwai, and jazz pianist-composer Nduduzo Makhathini. In addition to Gregory Porter, additional guests include Nigerian singer-musician Seun Kuti (Fela Kuti’s youngest son), and GRAMMY® Award-winning singer-songwriter and activist Angelique Kidjo.
Somi’s lifelong love of Makeba’s music and personal strength led to a record that she hopes will inspire a celebratory reflection on Makeba’s life and work.
“This album is my attempt to honour the unapologetic voice of an African woman who inevitably made room for my own journey and countless other African artists. In short, I owe her. We all do,” said Somi.
In celebration of her Makeba’s milestone birthday, Somi presented a festive concert celebration of Miriam Makeba’s life at the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York City on 19 March at the theater’s Africa Now! festival. ‘Somi: The Reimagination of Miriam Makeba’ headlined the Apollo’s annual festival. Special guests include jazz superstar Dianne Reeves and beloved South African legend Thandiswa Mazwai.
“I’m honored to celebrate the memory and music of Miriam Makeba on such a historic stage. In her autobiography, Makeba: My Story, Miriam reflects on her very first performance at The Apollo in September 1961 and all that it meant to her as a young African woman to sing in a place where so many great Black American voices she admired had stood before her. To me, that moment in her career speaks to the ability of her voice to connect and represent the Black experience from both sides of the Atlantic. It is that very generous community-building ethos in her work that has emboldened me to try to honor her life and voice in my own work. What a joy it is to have the opportunity to bring her story and spirit to Harlem, my longtime New York City neighborhood and a multi-generational nexus of global Black culture.”
The new album is a companion piece to the larger cultural memory work of Somi’s original play, Dreaming Zenzile, which is based on the life of Miriam Makeba and will open Off-Broadway in New York City in June 2022 after touring across theaters in the United States since Fall 2021.
She will be performing her new album ZENZILE: The Reimagination of Miriam Makeba at the State Theatre in Pretoria on Sunday, 27 March. Buy tickets here and find her tour dates here.
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