Zim: Female bassist emerges from New Tafara

Colleen Chinyangarara

EMERGING female bassist Colleen Chinyangarara (36), from New Tafara in Harare, has attributed her desire to succeed in the music industry to sungura ace, Alick Maecheso, whose guitar-playing skills have mesmerised music fans.

The married mother of two told NewsDay that music had always been part of her life since early childhood.

“I have always loved music since I was in primary school. Growing up, you would find me in the junior choir and I was also in the senior choir at secondary school. I have always wanted to play an instrument and when I saw Macheso strumming his bass guitar, I was so moved that I wanted to play it too,” she said.

It was not long after that Culture Fund launched a female musicians search in Mabvuku in 2014 and Chinyangarara got the chance to pursue her dream.

“I went for the auditions and I made it. We then started on a programme with the Zimbabwe College of Music from October 2014 to June 2015,” she said.

She and other female artistes in the same group have since gone ahead to form a band called Patakatanga and have been performing cover versions from jazz, rhumba, sungura to reggae.

Chinyangarara said they were set to record their debut album soon. She said society should appreciate women gifted in music as they could compete with men.

“People should know there are a lot of women out there who play the bass guitar, they only lack exposure. Women are now doing the same things that men do and we take it as work. It is a job just like a nurse who goes for night shift,” Chinyangarara said.

She, however, lamented the lack of equipment and also the need for promoters, who have artistes at heart, but said this would not deter them.

Patakatanga consists of nine members including renowned gospel diva Jennifer Maneni. Newsday