If the musical combination between popular solo musicians Junior Sikheli and Acolly Mandiza is anything to go by, piano music fanatics are in for a great treat this festive season.
The duo, both accomplished musicians in their own right with their own albums, have teamed up to form a group called The Horns Voice. The group, formed just recently, released its first album, titled Babele. The 10-track piano album was recorded at Athletes Studio and was released on Thursday, 28 November.
"Sikheli and I have never worked together before. It was by chance that we met during a studio session at Sikheli's house, where I was playing the acoustic guitar for his upcoming album. He just liked everything I was doing in the studio and suggested that we should work on something different and a new sound or genre that both of us had not played. From there, we started with the studio sessions, producing this project, with Sikheli in charge of the whole production. Our goal is to put this new sound in competition with all other genres that are currently trending. We want to grow as a group and make sure that this sound remains even in the future," Mandiza said.
Junior Sikheli is upbeat about their project. "This is something very great to have happened in the local music space. We came up with something groovier and a fresh sound which we hope our fans will welcome. This is a masterpiece and has beautiful tracks like Babele, Tshienda, Muhoha, and Vhuawelo," he said.
Sikheli started his music journey in 2012 and has released seven albums so far. Some of his popular hits include Muthu ndi Muya, Nwali O Sinyuwa, Ndi lilele Nnyi, and Kurambo. Mandiza started recording music professionally in 2012 and has so far released five albums. The songs that made him popular include Shambo la Shambo Langa and Ha-Muraga.