Alexio set to sooth souls at City Sports Bar

Alexio Kawara

Renowned urban groover Alexio Kawara will tonight take his act to the City Sports Bar in Harare in a debut appearance that is expected to illuminate the joint in preparation for Valentine's Day. The gig will certainly be a soulful journey for revellers, who are likely to get the right dosage of what the doctor ordered in terms of love, when the crooner dishes out soulful ballads, putting his fans into the Valentine mood.

In most of his shows, Alexio has often measured up to the task, and often sets the entertainment bar high.The young crooner, who is enjoying rave reviews following the release of his fifth album - "Tose" - is in the category of a rare breed group of young Zimbabwean musicians, who have remained professional, while delivering top-notch acts.

His zeal for perfection, and his level of ingenuity is unmatched.For a musician who carved his career from a nurtured hobby in 1999, Alexio's discography continues to get better with each new release. When he released, the hit song "Shaina", many critics did not take him seriously and actually categorised his music in the growing portfolio of "fly-by- night" artistes. However, his second album "Rwiyo Rwangu", which carried hits like "Musikana Akanaka", proved to be better than his first one, and less than two weeks after its release, "Alexio's sound" was already receiving rave reviews and heavy rotations at public and private events.

This "Alexio" sound embraces jazz, rock, reggae, dancehall, rap and contemporary R&B. However, Alexio's music has been classified as "urban grooves", a genre that gained a foothold in the country at the turn of the new millennium. Urban Grooves includes elements from many genres, and it has become the soundtrack for a new generation with its own ideas, fashion and lifestyle. So as the young man, makes his grand entry into the City Sports Bar, formerly Queens, music lovers are assured of pure joy and doses of fun.

Joint owner Biggie Chinoperekwei said the timely invitation of Alexio for tonight's gig was meant to help get lovers into Valentine mood in a robust way."It's a perfect timing for our growing clientele to get a bit of everything that is available on the local scene," he said. The same joint will on Valentine's Day play host to yet another yet urban groover, Jah Prayzah, whose popularity seems to be growing by each day following the release of his new urban, which carries the song "Gotchie Gotchie".

Meanwhile, a lot of shows will be on this weekend, as the Valentine fever grips the city. Jazz 105 will tonight host jazz maestro Victor Kunonga in what promises to be a good show. Sungura kingpin Alick Macheso will tonight descend on the Sports Diner International for a pungwe (all night) performance, while Londoners Pub and Grill hosts Amagesh dance group. If you are one of those people who have been yearning to see gospel musicians Pastor Charles Charamba and man of the moment Blessing Shumba, then you have every reason to smile.

The duo will meet for the first time at the "Peace Prayer" to be held at the Chitungwiza Aquatic Complex tomorrow. This is the kind of show that many people have been waiting for ever since the Mutare-based Shumba rose to fame with his two albums "Ishe Wazvose" and "NdiMwari" respectively. (Herald)