It was in the winter of 2014 when we first witnessed this lad playing at the Book Café on a Tuesday evening.
He was only 15 years old and was headlining that show with yet another teenager, then, Gary Tight.
His name was Takakunda Mukundu and besides playing at concerts with his Prince Edward Jazz outfit, this was probably the biggest show of his career.
Before the gig, he told us in an interview, “I am working on an album titled Mhanzi Yekumbakwedu.”
We did not care much about that because we wanted to first see him stage his debut solo performance.
We were blown away and then the wait for the album began.
As each winter approached the years kept piling but still no album came.
Finally, the wait has ended. Titled ‘Chronicles of The Culture Kid’, the album came out on August 25 and we can confirm it was worth the wait.
If there was no ban on performances due to the Covid19 pandemic, this body of work would have definitely seen the youngster being billed to perform at the annual summer fiesta, the Jacaranda Music Festival and obviously he would have by now played at the weekly jazz show, Back 2 Jazzics.
This is a phenomenal production – we rate it as the best album to be produced and engineered by renowned guitarist, Mono Mukundu. Yes, he is the father of the lad.
As was the case with ‘Vital Signs’ by Vee Mukarati a few weeks back, this album dubbed sends a message of hope to all jazz fanatics that he genre is alive and safe.
The level of composition is inimitable.
It sounds like it is music that is being created by someone who has been in the game for a very long time. Maybe that is why they emphasize on catching them young.
It is a sweet offering which you will play without skipping any of the 10 tracks.
As we enjoyed the melodies and the well placed solos, we concluded that this offering strongly contends for album of the year at the ZIMA’s, NAMA’s and Star FM Music Awards.
It is interesting to note that if it had not been for the pandemic we would not have been enjoying this production.
“I took so long because I wanted to mature first musically,” said Taka when we spoke to him a few days after the album was released.
Indeed, he has matured. What we saw at the Book Café in 2014 and what we are hearing now are worlds apart.
Over the course of the six years he has become one of the most sought after session musicians.
Playing across the music divide at jazz, gospel, Afro-fusion and pop concerts. He has become a well-rounded musician.
“I felt 2020 was the ideal time to release the album because I found myself with a lot of time on my hands as there weren’t any gigs anymore. So I capitalized on this and polished up on some things, while adding new elements to the body of work,” he revealed.
It is always amazing to see young talents mature, when you listen to the quality of his playing, which comes encapsulated in a raw Zimbabwean vibe you would never think it was that Taka who used to miss some of his codes (kupotsa) in his early days on big stages such as HIFA.
Like Mbeu, Sylent Nqo, and Gary Tight, the success of Taka is a sign to authorities of the importance of setting up platforms where budding acts can be given a chance to try, make mistakes and find their footing.
