RIPPING UP THE TOWN – ZAMI MDINGI (CODA)
MUSIC NEWS
Dec 21st 2009, 00:00
All of you music addicts out there need to treat the flaps of cartilage on the side of your head to the ultimate fix
Zami Mdingi’s sound lives in a loop in my head. That husky voice… forget it, even when she’s just talking or laughing, she is OMG. As for my large collection of dancing shoes, well if they get the slightest whiff of her voice, they fly out of my closet and onto my feet, there’s no stopping them. Several favourite pairs of six-inch heels have ground themselves down into mere soles with holes. Let this be a warning to shoe lovers everywhere.
When Zami lets rip, you will dance until you drop, and if you aren’t wearing shoes when you first hear her, be prepared to crunk your phat feet until you’re dancing on raw bleeding stumps. You could, if you must, compare Zami to Brenda Fassie, and we thought there could never be a contender to that throne, but she’s her own brand spanking new gift to us all, and we will be channelling Zami for years to come.
We had our first taste of her as a session singer – hired on the fly for a commercial. Well, she turned us on instantly, no beating around that bush. She played all over Cape Town with her band at a mix of clubs.
Now she’s bringing it for Coda as lead singer and I say LADUMA (which means ‘it thunders’, and is normally reserved as an enthusiastic roar for soccer). Their music is a mix of Kwaito, Electronica, Classical, Disco, Jazz and even a hint of Salsa. Coda has a totally South African sound and they’ve hyped up everyone from Guguletu to Dubai. If I have to call them fusion, then I’ll have to compare them to musical soup shots, served in cocktail glasses, hot with dry ice. Just ask for an ‘Afrojazzkwaitini’ – I know I’ll be downing them.
Three willowy, musically accomplished catwalk models play futuristic electronic classical instruments. Carol Thorns (head girl) is positively erotic on her electric cello. Judy Brown with her luscious gold pre-Raphaelite hair plays sax.
Galina Juritz on electric violin looks like she was born with a red carpet under her feet. And of course, they have scorching DJ Nick Matthews pulling it all apart or together, depending on how far gone you are already from the music. All this is offset by the wicked black velvet that lives in Zami’s legendary throat. Gabi Le Roux – songwriter and producer supremo – is collaborating with Coda on their next album, and remixing Zami’s ‘Come on with me’. We were off the chain with that song. My Galliano boots were high as a kite, and my hips didn’t need a lie detector. If you’re still reading this, and your shoes are already dancing off without you to the nearest Coda gig, you won’t even care what Coda means. Zami is flawless, you will be floorless and she will sweep the globe, word!
Refer to www.codamusic.co.za for upcoming gigs. Coda just released
their latest album Believe.
by Kitty Cooper
