With a big live concert the Zambian Afro-Jazz songstress Yvonne Mwale released last Saturday her latest record “Ninkale – Let It Be” in Frankfurt (Germany).
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Though new to Germany Yvonne Mwale managed to mobilise a large crowd of people to attend at ‘Das Bett’, a popular place for live concerts in Frankfurt. After one of Germany’s biggest entertainment magazines featured Yvonne with a full page article a good number of locals became curious to see what the African Star had to offer. Those who joined were not disappointed: for two and a half hours Yvonne Mwale rocked the place and kept the crowd dancing all night long, cheered by an excited audience. To maintain the African originality Yvonne had ‘Sir’ Jones Kabanga from Zambia and ‘Twaba’ from Tanzania on stage. Since the concert was a record release concert the new album ‘Ninkale’ was for the first time on sale that night. Most visitors decided to go home with their own copy after watching a convincing performance of the whole band. Many of them queued up the get their copy signed by the artist.
When asked about how she feels about her new album Yvonne had to say: “Working in such a studio with only professional musicians was a new experience for me. But it helped me to extend my limits further. It’s great after all that work to see the album finally out and selling. Now, after performing my first major concert here in Germany after the 2010 tour I’m excited to see all the people here. It’s good to see that even in Europe the audience loves our Africa music and I will give my best to reach a wider audience with it.”
The album was previously recorded in the Art Of June Studios, one of the major german recording studios that allows to record full bands live. The 14 tracks of the album feature besides the Zambian guitar legen ‘Sir Jones’ also the Tanzanian percussionist Twaba, the danish saxophonist Bobby Ricketts as well as musicians from Germany that usually perform with German superstars like Xavier Naidoo and Glashaus. To get the final polish, the album was after mixing sent to Switzerland for mastering.
With her latest album Yvonne Mwale is further establishing her position in the global World Music scene. First reviewers have been excited about the artistic and technical quality that take Zambian music to a whole new level. The album is available in all popular music stores and streaming services around the world (e.g. iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Spotify, Deezer and many more).
In July Yvonne will perform at the Africa Festival in Stuttgart (Germany). Further shows later this year are in preparation.
Yvonne Mwale performing with her band during the record release concert in Frankfurt. Foto: Felix Sboron
Yvonne Mwale performing during the record release concert in Frankfurt. Foto: Felix Sboron
Yvonne Mwale and Sir Jones representing Zambia during the record release concert in Frankfurt. Foto: Felix Sboron
Yvonne Mwale signing copies of the new album for fans. Foto: Matthias Krämer
Yvonne Mwale singing the ‘lead vocal’ for the musicians during the album recording. The final voice was recorded later. Foto: Matthias Krämer
Yvonne Mwale singing the ‘lead vocal’ for the musicians during the album recording. The final voice was recorded later. Foto: Matthias Krämer
‘Sir’ Jones Kabanga recording a track for Yvonne Mwale’s album in the guitar room. In the background Andreas Hillesheim is playing the Grand Piano in the piano room.