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By Garikai Mazara
The odds of me winning this bet are very high, so high that I am even tempted to stake my head on it. The more I think about it, the more determined, the more hard-pressed, I am to make the bet.
My bet is a challenge to any photographer in Zimbabwe, professional or amateur, to show me – and the world at large – a picture of Alick Macheso, Jah Prayzah and Winky D – all in one frame. To add spice to the bet, that frame should have been captured during a live performance. And that live performance ought to have been in Zimbabwe.
Anyone with that picture, please share it. Which forms the basis of my bet, that no such image exists in our archives.
Which makes October 5 probably the perfect setting for such a photo shoot, providing the programme for that night, a night which promises to be one of glamour, glory and gratification, will not conspire to deny any such daring photographer that opportunity.
For on October 5, the whole country, and I mean the whole country, is expected to converge at Kadoma’s Odyssey, where Diamond Platinum, the aforementioned trio of Alick Macheso, Jah Prayzah, Winky D plus Gemma Griffiths and Saintfloew are billed to provide an all-night entertainment bonanza.
Maybe if we start with the possible programme for that night?
This is just me thinking and I am sure the event organisers have their own thinking and preferences. For me, it is going to be a toss between Gemma and Saint, as to who will kick-start the night’s proceedings.
Then the other will come after the other. Then comes Diamond Platinum. My reasoning is that they are a foreign act, and usually foreign acts get preferential treatment. Like the prime spot. My guess is that they negotiated for an early slot, so that they go to bed early. But the cynical me would want to think they asked for an early slot so that they can watch Macheso later on.
After Diamond Platinum comes another toss between Winky and Jah. This is likely to throw a huge poser for the organisers, because musicians have big egos, so big they think whoever gets on stage first is the lesser act. I think music fans must be aware of live shows that almost collapsed because Musician A would not “curtain-raise” for Musician B. Such a scenario is likely to pan out on October 5.
Whoever wins that toss, Macheso is likely to round up the night, most likely well up to 10am Sunday!
If I were part of the organising team, I would ask the trio of Macheso, Jah and Winky to collaborate during, say Jah’s set, with Macheso doing vocals to any Winky’s song, Winky doing vocals to any Jah’s song and Jah doing vocals for any Macheso song. This is something that our music industry badly needs. (And our photographer(s) will have the chance to shoot that elusive frame!)
I am sure even the angels that guide after our musicians would gladly descend and bless such a moving scenario. For some of us, if that happens, that will be like the re-creation of the Bob Marley’s iconic unification of Michael Manley and John Seaga, at the height of the Jamaican civil war. Music has always been known to be unifier.
But one cannot dissect such a show and not talk about tiffs, imagined or real. There has always been a muffled debate on who is a bigger and better musician, Jah Prayzah or Winky D. As much as this might sound like an infertile discussion, given their varied genres, it is just wishful thinking that such comparisons do not exist, for such debates and “beefs” keep the music industry alive and vibrant.
If the Kadoma initiative is given more time and flesh, we might be witnessing the birth of a Zimbabwe Arts Festival and with the collapse of the Harare International Festival of the Arts, there has been a yawning gap for a festival that brings the country, different arts genres and aficionados together. Given the almost central location of Kadoma, geographically that is, there could be no better setting.
For those of us who love to see music in a judgemental frame, October 5 in Kadoma is the place to be. As largely expected, the verdict will duly be delivered soon after.
