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Erica Kundidzora Azim is a musician based in Berkeley, California, who is associated with a not-for-profit organisation.
Mbira - Healing Music of Zimbabwe The Relaxation Company CD, 2000
Mbira Dreams The Relaxation Company CD 3261 and cassette, 1996
"Nyama musango" on Belief: A Collection of World Sacred Music Beliefnet CD 1001, 2000
"Mwanangu" on Mama’s Lullaby and Mother Earth Lullaby Ellipsis Arts CDs 4291 and 4293, March 2001 and 2002
"Nyama musango" (background for Peter Matthiesen reading from "Sand Rivers") on The Naturalists Audio Literature, 1997
with Forward Kwenda: Forward Kwenda - Svikiro: Meditations of an Mbira Master Shanachie CD 64095, 1997 (extensive liner notes by Erica Azim)
Mbira are a family of musical instruments, traditional to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. They consist of a wooden board with attached staggered metal tines, played by holding the instrument in the hands and plucking the tines with the thumbs, the right forefinger, and sometimes the left forefinger. Musicologists classify it as a lamellaphone, part of the plucked idiophone family of musical instruments. In Eastern and Southern Africa, there are many kinds of mbira, often accompanied by the hosho, a percussion instrument. It is often an important instrument played at religious ceremonies, weddings, and other social gatherings. The "Art of crafting and playing Mbira/Sansi, the finger-plucking traditional musical instrument in Malawi and Zimbabwe" was added to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2020.
Zimbabwean music is heavily reliant on the use of instruments such as the mbira, Ngoma drums and hosho. Their music symbolizes much more than a simple rhythm, as the folk and pop style styled music was used as a symbol of hope for Zimbabweans looking to gain independence from Rhodesia. Music has played a significant role in the history of Zimbabwe, from a vital role in the traditional Bira ceremony used to call on ancestral spirits, to protest songs during the struggle for independence. The community in Zimbabwe used music as a tool to voice their oppression when they didn't have the weapons to fight back. In the eighties, the Music of Zimbabwe was at the center of the African Music scene thanks to genres such as Sungura and Jit. However, several performers were banned by state TV and radio leading to the closing of several music venues.
The hosho are Zimbabwean musical instruments consisting of a pair of maranka (mapudzi) gourds with seeds. They are used as major instruments in many traditional Shona music genres, such as in mbira ensembles and in mhande. They typically contain hota seeds inside them. Before the hota seeds are added, the hosho is boiled in salted water and the inside is scraped out with a corncob, newspaper plug, or woven wire. Removing the debris inside the hosho allows for a more sharp and percussive tone.
Leonard "Karikoga" Zhakata is a Zimbabwean musician and singer. He writes and sings mainly in his native Shona tongue. Zhakata, who adorns trademark glittering outfits, is best known for his hits Hupenyu Mutoro, Batai Mazwi and "Gomba Remarara". However, it was his 1994 smash hit Mugove, from the album Maruva Enyika, which evaded government censorship and propelled him to national stardom.
Shona music is the music of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. There are several different types of traditional Shona music including mbira, singing, hosho and drumming. Very often, this music will be accompanied by dancing, and participation by the audience. In Shona music, there is little distinction between the performer and the audience, both are often actively involved in the music-making, and both are important in the religious ceremonies where Shona Music is often heard.
Abraham Dumisani Maraire, known to friends as "Dumi", was a master performer of the mbira, a traditional instrument of the Shona ethnic group of Zimbabwe. He specialized in the form of mbira called nyunga nyunga, as well as the Zimbabwean marimba. He introduced Zimbabwean music to North America, initiating a flourishing of Zimbabwean music in the Pacific Northwest that continues into the 21st century.
Stella Chiweshe is a Zimbabwean musician. She is internationally known for her singing and playing of the mbira dzavadzimu, a traditional instrument of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. She is one of the few female players of the instrument, which she learned to play from 1966 to 1969 when even fewer females played the instrument.
Philip Aaberg is an American pianist and composer. He gained international recognition through a series of successful piano recordings released on Windham Hill Records. Although classically trained, Aaberg incorporates classical, jazz, bluegrass, rock, and new music elements into his compositions and musical structures. Although best known for his solo piano work, he is most at home in the chamber jazz genre. His compositions are noted for their "rigorous keyboard technique, diverse influences, and colorful compositional style."
Cosmas Magaya was a Zimbabwean mbira musician.
"Lullaby" is a song by Melanie B, which was released as the final single from her debut solo album, Hot. It was released on 4 June 2001 and peaked at No. 13 on the UK Singles Chart. The music video and single cover feature her daughter Phoenix Chi Gulzar. The song was co-written by Melanie Brown, Richard Stannard, Julian Gallagher, and Richard Norris.
Musekiwa Chingodza is a Zimbabwean mbira and marimba player and teacher. He was born in 1970 in Zimbabwe.
Chartwell Shorayi Dutiro was a Zimbabwean musician, who started playing mbira when he was four years old at the protected village, Kagande; about two hours drive from Harare, where his family was moved by the Salvation Army missionaries during the Chimurenga. Even though the missionaries had banned traditional music, he learned to play from his brother and other village elders. His mother also encouraged him through her singing of traditional songs.
Forward Kwenda is a mbira performer from Zimbabwe. He was born in the rural Buhera area in Manicaland, an area known for its fierce resistance to colonial rulers and respect for Shona tradition. As a young boy, Forward excelled in traditional dance and recitation of ancient poetry. At the age of 10, he began to play ngoma (drums) and hosho for his mother's gombwe (rain-making) spirit. He was given the name "Forward" because of his curiosity about many subjects, enthusiastic involvement in many activities and his performances for guerrilla forces during the Rhodesian Bush War.
Khalil "Saint Cassius" Walton is an American musician, recording artist and independent music publisher based in New York City.
Erik Hillestad is a Norwegian record producer and lyricist.
Grażyna Auguścik is a Polish jazz vocalist, composer, and arranger. She frequently uses Polish folk music, Latin American music, and klezmer music.
Abdul Azim bin Rahim is a Malaysian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Penang on loan from Kuala Lumpur City.
Music and sleep involves the listening of music in order to improve sleep quality or improve sleep onset insomnia in adults. This process can be either self-prescribed or under the guidance of a music therapist. Music is easy to administer and has no reported side effects. Music can be combined with relaxation techniques such as breathing exercises and progressive muscle relaxation. Research suggests that prevalence of music as a sleep aid may be up to 25% in the general population.
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