"It's a big step," she said excitedly, "but I'm ready. Attending the Metro FM Awards in Nelspruit last year was an eye-opener to the South African music industry up north. It's a much bigger playground."
After debuting at the Cape Town Jazz Festival in 2009, Nomfusi and her band from the townships, The Lucky Charms, embarked on their first international tour, with performances in Norway and Canada. Since then, the floodgates have opened and they will soon be boarding the plane again to perform with a 60-piece orchestra at the Festival Mundial in the Netherlands. "I couldn't believe it when they phoned us up, and offered to do orchestrations of nine tracks off my debut album. Previously, I have done two songs with a full orchestra as part of the Spier Symphonic Pops, but this time around we're going to rock them with a full-length show."
Nomfusi and The Lucky Charms have been active on the corporate circuit, performing laid-back Sophiatown jazz as well as explosive dance sets.
The follow-up to her debut album, "Kwazibani", was recently commissioned by her record label, Universal Music, based in Sandton. "Being closer to our record label gives us more control. The 'out-of-sight, out-of-mind' adage applies here. In Cape Town you're less visible to the 'big machine.'"
For footage of Nomfusi's live performances to date, go to www.nomfusi.com.
