Harare — IF there is one thing that a lot of sungura lovers never doubted was the high level of ingenuity and talent exhibited by the R and K African Sounds when they came on the music scene in the late 1990's.

The two young lads who fronted the band, Rangarirai Sagombeto and Kelvin Chikore became household names following the release of their song Tina from their debut album Dama Rakanaka.

The song became an instant hit not only with sungura fans, but also with several music lovers who could not help but appreciate a good and well thought out music project.

Although the video of the hit song was mediocre, that alone did not in any way dampen the enthusiasm and the excitement the song had generated on the local market, within a short period of time.

Like with their first album, their second collection Raramo released in 2000 was well received with the song Postcard, a sequel to Tina making waves on the music scene. Barely two years on the music scene, the duo, hailing from Dzivaresekwa who earned themselves the nickname, "Boys dzekuDZ" became heroes overnight.

They had struck the right cords in the industry. They had even made a name for themselves in two years, a feat that several musicians often took decades to achieve. However, years that followed were punctuated with joy and sorrow, with the latter dominating the seven years that were to follow after the two parted ways to pursue solo musical projects.

They did not achieve much in their solo careers. Instead of making it to the musical echelons, their overnight success dwindled within months and albums they released during their solo projects gathered dust on shop shelves. Having realised their mistake, they did not waste time, but immediately retraced their footsteps to establish where they went wrong.

Ten years down the road, the two talented musicians, are back together and recently released an album Hona Pane Zuva with Last Power Media. The six -track CD is a good project and a clear indication that despite personal differences that drew them apart on several occasions, they still connect music wise and are determined to do even better.

Despite having worked on separate solo projects, the duo did not lose their sungura beat, although this time, its now flavoured with some rhumba or kwasa kwasa beat.

The new beat comes out clearly in the songs Ayanda, Ilanga Seliphumile and Pandiri Pakaoma and it is clear that Kelvin and Rangarirai sought to come up with a music project reflective of their original beat, that saw hits like Tina and Postcard doing well on the local market.

Having listened to three of the albums they did together as well as the ones they released separately I have no doubt that although they are equally talented, it works best when they blend their skills together and complement each other well. This is clearly seen in the way they take turns to play the sub-rhythm guitar and on the vocals even though Rangarirai does them better.

If anything, the two young men have become a towering example to other groups who parted ways for one reason or the other that it is still possible to work together.

Having gone their separate ways on several occasions, R and K African Sounds now appreciate the power of synergies and collaboration in order to come up with good projects. It would be good to see several split groups burying their differences and reuniting for the good of their fans.

Imagine an explosive reunion it would be should Alick Macheso, Shepherd Chinyani, Nicholas Zakaria and Margaret Gweshe come together and rekindle memories when they used to make up the Vhuka Boys.

Would it not be fascinating to see Macheso and Innocent Mjintu coming together for a music project or better still Sulumane and Allan Chimbetu just putting aside their differences to further consolidate the dendera beat?

I believe there is power in collaborations and synergies.