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A renowned Langa marimba band is going to perform at the Impilo Jazz Experience 2019 2.0 Edition at Iziko Catering Restaurant in Langa next month.
The eight men band, known as Abavuki, is going to share a stage with other local groups from neighbouring areas including Vukani Jazz Band from Gugulethu and both DJs Sebz and Amish from Langa.
Impilo is an annual event which moves around the local townships in a bid to groom young artists.
Abavuki is urging supporters to come out in numbers to witness the humdinger show. The group calls their music a fusion as it caters for everyone.
Band member Andile Makubalo said they’ve been in the industry for a while even though many people don’t know about them.
“We established the group in 2001 and we’ve been performing all over the world. Our first gig in Asia was in China in 2006. We were performing on the Silk Road Festival. Also in 2015, we had a European Tour where we performed in different countries including the Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, and Belgium.
We also performed locally at Rocking the Daisies Festival in 2013 at Steyn Farm Darling and also at Voorkamer Festival in Darling 2015,” said Makubalo.
He added that they also performed in Algeria in 2016.
Makubalo said when they write songs they write about their experiences and life in general.
Thando Sishuba, who is also a group member, said when they established the group they were about 10 members.
“The same year we added another four members and became 14 members. But as time went by other members dropped out,” said Sishuba.
He said as band members they grew up together in the township and the majority of them were influenced by their family members to join the music industry.
“My brother was a guitarist for one of the jazz groups in Langa. And it also happened that some of our members were doing music classes playing horns at primary school. So it wasn’t difficult for us to combine,” he said adding that Langa itself is known for jazz music.
The group also released two albums.
“Our first album was called Decade in 2011 because we released it after a decade together.
And the second album was released in 2015 called Live in China,” he recalled. Explaining the reason why they took so long to release their albums he said they wanted to do genuine music.
He mentioned the late Hugh Masekela and Nigerian multi-instrumentalist Fela Kuti are their favourite artists. “We also brag about sharing the stage with well- known artists like Ezra Ngcukana, Dizu Platjies, and Robbie Jansen.
“We wish we can make collaboration with Carlos Santana from Mexico or Caiphus Semenya. These are the artists that we admire in the industry,” he concluded.
