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 to voice their resistance to their oppression, as one of the only weapons they had available to fight back with. 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.
James Melvin Lunceford was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era.
Thomas Tafirenyika Mapfumo is a musician nicknamed "The Lion of Zimbabwe" and "Mukanya" for his immense popularity and for the political influence he wields through his music, including his sharp criticism of the government of former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe. He both created and made popular Chimurenga music, and his slow-moving style and distinctive voice is instantly recognisable to Zimbabweans.
Chimurenga is a word in the Shona. The Ndebele equivalent is not as widely used since most Zimbabweans speak Shona; it is Umvukela, meaning "revolutionary struggle" or uprising. In specific historical terms, it also refers to the Ndebele and the Shona insurrections against administration of the British South Africa Company during the late 1890s, the First Chimurenga—and the war fought between African nationalist guerrillas and the predominantly-white Rhodesian government during the 1960s and the 1970s, the Rhodesian Bush War, or the Second Chimurenga/Imvukela.
Keith Fullerton Whitman is an American electronic musician who has recorded albums influenced by many genres, including ambient music, drill and bass, and krautrock. He records and performs using many aliases, of which the best-known is Hrvatski. His works under the Hrvatski moniker mainly fell under the 'drill and bass' subgenre of IDM, and were his main musical outlet in the mid-to-late 1990s. Other solo aliases include ASCIII and Anonymous. Keith was in many bands in the 1990s, including El-Ron, The Liver Sadness, Sheket/Trabant, The Finger Lakes and Gai/Jin.
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 Zimbabwean musician. He was a master performer of the mbira, a traditional instrument of the Shona people 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.
Cass McCombs is an American musician and songwriter. Since 2002 he has released ten albums, an EP and a B-sides compilation under his own name. McCombs' music blends elements of many styles including American roots music, underground music, country, psychedelia and international music. His satirical lyrics, often the focal point, touch on the ambiguities between the personal, the political, mortality and nature.
Chazezesa Challengers are a Zimbabwean Sungura music band formed in 1993 under the direction of the late System Tazvida in Chitungwiza. System, a Khiama Boys alumnus, grew sick of not receiving his fair share of royalties and decided to form his own band. Both his stints in Khiama Boys and the Sungura Boys had ended without any financial compensation. He recruited some experienced musicians, including his bassist brother Peter. The band of five are veterans of the Zimbabwe music scene. His brother Peter is a Nyami Nyami Sounds alumnus. Guitarist LeeRoy Lunga had played with both the Super Sounds and the Kasongo Band, while percussionist Lucky Mumiriki had experience with the Hurungwe Sounds and the Sungura Boys. The group is also known as Boyz DzeSmoko.
Chris Berry is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He plays the mbira and the ngoma drum, from the Shona people of Southern Africa. His records with the band Panjea have gone platinum in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. He has released over a dozen albums; scored the soundtrack for three films; and collaborated and performed with many other artists.
The Four Brothers were a pop group from Zimbabwe. The members were not brothers. They played fast-paced guitar-based pop music with songs sung in the Shona language. Their lead guitar string-plucking sound is reminiscent of the sound of the African mbira instrument and is a style known as 'jit'.
Mwenezi, originally known as Nuanetsi, is a small district situated in southern Zimbabwe. It is bisected by the Mwenezi River and the A4 highway, the main thoroughfare that connects the town of Beitbridge, on the border with South Africa, to Masvingo.
Solomon Skuza (1954–1995), also known as Jah Solo was a Zimbabwean musician, one of the most popular to come out of Plumtree. In addition to his native Kalanga, he wrote lyrics in Ndebele, Shona and English as well. Other popular Kalanga musicians include Nduna Malaba, Ndolwane Super Sounds, Mokis Connection and Solomon's brother Chase Skuza.
Funuel Nyasha Tazvida, best known as System Tazvida, was a Zimbabwean musician born on 2 May 1968 in Zaka Masvingo during the Rhodesia era of modern day Zimbabwe, who was very popular in his home country mainly in the 1990s, though not as well known internationally. System Tazvidas music was sung more in a satirical manner but was very pregnant with meaning; by his lyrics he acted as a social commentator on various issues that affect people in their day to day living. Tazvida wrote and performed songs mainly in his native Shona language.
Jairos Jiri MBE was born in the district of Bikita, then Southern Rhodesia now Zimbabwe. He was also known respectfully as Baba, which means Father in his Shona culture.
R.U.N.N. Family were a Zimbabwean musical group that had several hits in the 1980s, whose songs combined mbira-inspired music with reggae and rhumba influences.
Paul Riser is an American trombonist and Motown musical arranger who was responsible for co-writing and arranging dozens of top ten hit records. His legacy as one of the "Funk Brothers" is similar to that of most of the other "Brothers", as his career has been overlooked and overshadowed by the stars of Motown that became household names. Some of the Funk Brothers he worked with include: Earl Van Dyke, Johnny Griffith, Robert White, Eddie Willis, Joe Messina, Dennis Coffey, Wah Wah Watson, James Jamerson, Bob Babbitt, Eddie Watkins, Richard "Pistol" Allen, Uriel Jones, Andrew Smith, Jack Ashford, Valerie Simpson, Eddie "Bongo" Brown, Benny Benjamin, Cornelius Grant, Joe Hunter, Richard "Popcorn" Wylie, Marcus Belgrave, Teddy Buckner and Stevie Wonder.
Jerald Edward Kolbrak, known professionally as Jerry Cole, was an American guitarist who recorded under his own name, under various budget album pseudonyms and as an uncredited session musician.
James Chimombe (1951–1990) was a Zimbabwean vocalist and a guitarist. His career included stints with OK Success, the Acid Band, the Ocean City Band, and the Huchi Band. His music melded Kenyan, South African, and Congolese influences into Zimbabwean music. James also worked American Country & Western sounds into his music, combining them with African horns and light, lilting guitar lines. James Chimombe is known as the Phil Collins of Zimbabwe. Had he been alive today, he would have been as well known as Tuku. Tuku and Chimombe are both sons of Highfields, aka Fio. His music was soulful and presented the heart of the Shona culture.
