Clare: Jazz queen in the making

One of the local musicians to do just that is Clare, an up and coming musician who describes her music as “a fusion of jazz with lots of acoustic sounds and an ethnic vibe”. But her music fusion of what could safely be described as contemporary Zimbabwean jazz with a heavy influence in township rhythms.
Clare, her real name Clarybel Nyakujara, launched her debut album, Haudi Nei? in the capital recently. The album is a culmination of four years of determination when in 2006 she started writing her own music and also took up the guitar “more seriously”.
She said her musical influences include Kate Melua, Miriam Makeba and Aretha Franklin and “naturally, her style developed from there into a unique blend with flavours of these, but rooted firmly in Africa in the here and now”.
However, by just listening to her album, an eight-track lyrical masterpiece, you can never be mistaken that a new star is born: Besides being soothing, which is characteristic of jazz music, Clare’s music is also danceable.
The songs contained on the album include Gwenyambira (Musician), a song which reveals the importance of music in any gathering and the joy that comes with it; Ndave Kudziirwa (I feel warm inside), which an expression of warmth, love and joy; and the title track, Haudi Nei? (Why won’t you love me), which is a woman’s lamentation over a man’s love.
Clare is not new on the musical scene. She has worked with various groups with various jazz styles in the country including Luck St Blues, Dudu Manhenga and Color Blu, The Other Four, Dumi Ngulube and Amamgents and Dino Mudondo, among others.
“Taking the guitar allowed me to write. Sometimes I feel the need to write a song and I just start playing, hanging different chords with each other and it comes together with the melody,” she said.
Clare is also part of a vibrant programme for the development of women artistes in Zimbabwe, FLAME (Female Literary, Arts and Music Enterprise), the brainchild of a Harare-based arts organisation, Pamberi Trust.
She is married to Jimmie Buzuzi, who is a musician in his own right, and the couple has two children, Kim (5) and Ash (4).