Macheso a proud groomer

Alick Macheso

Alick Macheso has enhanced his position as mentor of young musicians through various collaborative shows where he has roped in upcoming musicians as supporting acts. After working on a number of shows with Tendai and Morgan Dembo, Macheso took aboard Tryson Chimbetu and now he is working with Peter Moyo. 

Macheso, Chimbetu and Moyo will on Sunday have a family show at Queens Hotel Gardens in the central business district. For almost a year, Macheso has been performing with Chimbetu on most of his shows and the move has paid dividends to the rising dendera musician. He has managed to create a commendable fan base. Chimbetu values the exposure he got through working with Macheso.

I owe a lot to Macheso and I should say I would not have risen to this level of popularity had I not worked with him, said Chimbetu. I have learnt a lot from the experienced musician and he is a good advisor and teacher. I am sure most other musicians that have worked with Macheso will attest to this fact. He is a good mentor. Besides holding a string of shows together, Macheso and Chimbetu worked together in the studio. 

Chimbetus latest album Nguva YaChimbetu features Macheso on the song Vegetables. The album is doing very well and Chimbetu is fast climbing the ladder of popularity. When Macheso worked with the Dembo brothers the young musicians would always visit the sungura king for tips and advice even when they were not sharing the stage. Macheso believes there is value in mentoring young musicians in order to keep the music industry growing.

We came through the same experiences and as established musicians we should work with the future of our industry in mind, said Macheso. Our time shall pass and people will still want to enjoy music. There were popular artists before us, but most of them died while others retired from music. We took over and we have done a lot as a generation. It is sad that we have already lost a number of our peers in the industry and that is a sign our time is nearly over. The next generation is about to take over, so we have to prepare them for the race. 

He said he was glad some of the young musicians had made great progress which was a good sign for the arts, adding he would work with Chimbetu and Moyo any time. Moyo is still fresh in the industry, but has managed to maintain his late fathers fan base. (Newsday)