Zimbabwe arts organisation Pamberi Trust and The Book Café, one of Harare’s busiest live arts venues, is delighted to welcome Mozambican singer and guitarist IVO MAIA on Saturday 11 September from 8pm - another exciting and vibrant performance under Pamberi Trust’s programme for cultural diversity which has hosted diverse artists of the world in recent years.

 

Ivo Maia spent his formative years in Maputo, where he started dabbling in music from a very young age, starting out on the bass guitar, and soon discovering that his voice was his strongest asset.  He moved to Brazil to attend university in 1998 and it wasn’t long before he was involved in the Brazilian music scene, collaborating with different artists and bands.   His performances reflect the rich cultural heritage of Portuguese colonies, combining Afro-grooves with a Brazilian reggae influence, which he describes as ‘JaMozBraz’ -   (Jamaican/Mozambican/Brazilian).  His voice, an evocative mix of honeyed tones and raw power, accompanied by his guitar, makes for addictive, foot-tapping listening.

 

In 2004, he met with fellow musicians in Espirito Santo, Brazil, during their famous annual Carnival, and the Afro-Brazilian phenomenon Napalma was born - an electro-percussive sound explosion showcasing rhythms and lyrics from both continents (see www.napalma.com.br).  Ivo has travelled with Napalma as their vocalist ever since, appearing in over 500 shows worldwide, and some of the most prestigious festivals and venues in the world, including The Cape Town Jazz Festival, Awesome Africa, Hopi kopi, Rocking the Daises, Arts Alive, Vortex (SA), Boom Festival (Portugal), Universo Paralelo (Brazil), Festival dos Abrazos (Spain), the Cairo Opera House (Egypt), Blijburg (Holland), Sound ‘n Arts (Germany), Guanabara (London, UK), amongst many, many others.  Based in Johannesburg, South Africa for the last two years, he splits his time between touring with Napalma and his solo project. 

 

Earlier this month he was warmly welcomed back in his homecity Maputo, and for his Zimbabwe performance, IVO will be backed by the gifted musicians of Zimbabwe’s very own COLOR BLU – Blessing Muparutsa (drums), Nick Nhare (keys) and Enock Piroro (bass) – highly rated in Zimbabwe, and fully qualified to pick up new rhythms and styles, and guaranteed to acquit themselves well as session artists for Ivo. 

 

And, as happens with musicians everywhere, a few surprise guest artists will take to the stage to welcome Ivo and enjoy the richness of his ‘JaMozBraz’ (Zim?), a colourful music experience that will be flowing through The Book Café on Saturday 11 September.

 

IVO MAIA is the latest of several dynamic recent cultural exchanges presented by Pamberi Trust in partnership with its sister organisation, African Synergy Trust (South Africa) under the ‘African Tour Circuit’ project.  It has seen the exchange of many artists already including Etran Finatawa from Niger, Mozambican stars Mingas, Chicco and Moreira, and the FLAME! Regional tour with top women artists of the region. 

The ethos of the African Tour Circuit is that creative industries will realize growth and prosperity when driven from within the continent, using home-grown ideas and resources.  African Tour Circuit facilitates a network of promoters, venues, artists and festivals to sustain a workable ‘tour circuit’ to facilitate tours and contacts for African artists in Africa, stimulate information about African art within Africa, and nurture artistic ideas and innovation across boundaries in Africa.

The African Tour Circuit is becoming well established in the region now, with strong partners and venues in South Africa, Mozambique, Swaziland and Zimbabwe, and a huge network of artists in Africa.  Through the tour circuit several Zimbabwean artists have received wider exposure in the Southern African region.