Female musical artistes are proving to be a force to reckon with by taking the musical genre to another level since Kumabhebhi was launched earlier this month. Kumabhebhi, which literary means a ladies’ meeting place, is a brainchild of the talented jazz artiste Claire “Claire” Nyakujara and the versatile award-winning urban grooves artiste Cindy “Cindy” Munyavi.

The three-hour launch which was filled with excitement, music and dance was held at the Book Cafe where the two artistes thrilled revellers as they churned out some of the well-loved golden old tunes like “True Love” by Ilanga and a remix by Cindy of “One Way” by the late Simon “Chopper Chimbetu, among many other songs. “We are looking forward to holding shows every month and possibly incorporating more female artistes along the way but we can’t give you names right now because we are still finalising the contracts,” said Claire.

“Our next show will be held at Ligi on Friday, right at the heart of the city centre and we expect it to be more explosive than the launch,” she added. Asked why they came up with such an idea, both Cindy and Claire concurred that they wanted to create a platform for female artistes and female music lovers to interact whilst also having some fun.

“The concept of Kumabhebhi is highly an interactive platform where apart from having fun through music and dance, we also thought we could create some space for female artistes and female music fanatics from all walks of life,” they said.

“We are also trying to attract women in the business world to come and network with other women in an environment that is purely meant for women only. “Most female musicians wait for promoters to organise shows for them and give them mileage but with Kumabhebhi we are also trying to empower ourselves as we undertake to organise shows for ourselves.”

Cindy also added that in most cases it is rare to find women working together to achieve a common goal especially a jazz and urban grooves artistes whose crowds are totally different but Kumabhebhi has made it possible. During the Kumabhebhi gigs, the main players to look forward to are Claire and Cindy supported by other upcoming female artistes.

To carry their women platform gospel forward, the organisers of the show have stipulated different ticket prizes for men and women where the charge is a little bit pricey for men. Since the launch, the organisers of Kumabhebhi have promised that the show will be a monthly gig.

The inaugural show which was being hosted by the socialite Pokello Nare received an overwhelming response exceeding the expectations of the organisers. “The turnout was awesome, we didn’t expect to get such kind of support but the house was full and that was an inspiration for us,” said Cindy.

“The calibre of women who came is exactly the type of women that we are targeting because we could see a lot of networking going on.” Cindy also hinted that although the house was full, 40 percent of the revellers were women as compared to the 60 percent of men who turned up.

Jah Prayzah, Ba Shupi, Savanna Afro, Mic Inity, Discord and Roki were present as well to support the ladies’ initiative.

Clare has two albums to her name, “Haudi Neyi” and “Unleashed” which are aptly named as it coincided with her musical journey of self-discovery and transformation. The albums reveal an authentic, fresh new sound and energy, and for those fans of the Afro-jazz genre.

Cindy has also released two successful albums, “Kukuda” and “The Groove Theory”. She has performed at the Big Brother Amplified Eviction ceremony and shared the stage with international acclaimed artistes such as Akon, Sean Paul, TOK and Sean Kingston, among others.