Mohalenyane Phakela
AFRO Jazz maestro, Bhudaza Mapefane, is set to share the stage with other African music luminaries during the Moretele Park Tribute Concert 2015 to be held in Pretoria, South Africa on Saturday.
The Moretele Park Tribute Concert was launched in 1998 to honour South African music heroes and has featured performances from superstars and emerging musicians and groups such as Mafikizolo, MiCasa and Yvonne Chaka Chaka.
This year’s edition is themed “We Are Africa”, and celebrates South Africa’s “coming of age” amid protests against xenophobia and the abhorrent violence towards foreign nationals experienced earlier this year.
Gifted saxophonist and singer, Bhudaza, will headline the event alongside legendary Zimbabwean crooner Oliver Mtukuzi and South African musical heavyweights Caiphas Semenya, Vusi Mahlasela, Thandiswa Mazwai, Mzwakhe Mbuli and The Soil among others.
The Hlotse, Leribe-born Bhudaza is among the very few local artistes who have managed to make an indelible musical mark beyond Lesotho’s borders. He has performed in South Africa on numerous occasions, and graced the stage in such countries as Germany, Dubai, Namibia, Botswana and Uganda among others.
In an interview with the Weekender this week, the Babalase hit-maker, said he felt honoured to be representing Lesotho at such a high profile event.
“This will be the fifth time I will be performing at this epic event, and I always feel blessed and honoured as such concerts enable me to showcase the sound of Basotho to other nations,” Bhudaza said.
“Getting booked for this event on consecutive occasions means I have managed to live up to their expectations and I never relax and sit on my laurels because I have been there before. I always treat every show like my first and strive to bring out the best performance ever.”
Because of the need to variate his sound every year, the Bo Mapefane hit-maker said he would introduce some of his unreleased material at the Mamelodi, Pretoria show. Bhudaza also revealed that fans can look forward to the release of his upcoming project next April.
“I am currently working on my fourth offering which will drop in April and fans can expect the same classic Bhudaza sound, in addition to other modern rhythms,” he added.
“I am not yet at liberty to disclose its title as I have a couple of ideas in mind. For now I cannot tell whether people will enjoy it or not, but I normally leave the fans to do the judging by themselves.”
