... Thomas Mapfumo chimurenga music Harare nightlife mbira ...

... mbira Ephat Mujuru Muchatera Mujuru bira spirit mediums ...

... Cecil John Rhodes Zimbabwe African Christianity Thomas Mapfumo mbira ...

... Thomas Mapfumo Zimbabwean nationalism the Springfields Hallelujah Chicken Run Band mbira ...

..., set the stage for Thomas Mapfumo’s birth in 1945. The chapter evokes the boy’s rural life on the “communal lands” in Rhodesia—farming, tending cattle, and coming to love traditional music—notably mbira. Mapfumo spent his first ten years in Marondera with his maternal grandparents, because his...

... involved in the management of band affairs. Musicians come and go, often in disputes over payment. Mbira player Chartwell Dutiro joins the band, shepherding mbiras into the Blacks Unlimited stage lineup in a lasting way. The era produces ground-breaking new music, notably Mapfumo’s tribute to Zimbabwe’s...

... This chapter departs from the Mapfumo story to explore the world of mbira music and musicians, notably the life and music of Ephat Mujuru. A number of players of this traditional, hand-forged lamellophone describe how they became players. Accompanied by Mujuru, the author observes a bira...

... instrument, the mbira, which plays an important role when it is adapted in Mapfumo’s secular music. The concert described in these pages takes place at a pivotal moment when Mapfumo is beginning to openly criticize the regime of President Robert Mugabe. As such, this account prefigures the arc...

... for Thomas Mapfumo’s birth in 1945. The chapter evokes the boy’s rural life on the “communal lands” in Rhodesia—farming, tending cattle, and coming to love traditional music—notably mbira. Mapfumo spent his first ten years in Marondera with his maternal grandparents, because his biological father could...

... with adapting mbira music for rock band instrumentation. Thomas Mapfumo Zimbabwean nationalism the Springfields Hallelujah Chicken Run Band mbira ...

... affairs. Musicians come and go, often in disputes over payment. Mbira player Chartwell Dutiro joins the band, shepherding mbiras into the Blacks Unlimited stage lineup in a lasting way. The era produces ground-breaking new music, notably Mapfumo’s tribute to Zimbabwe’s war-torn neighbor Mozambique...

... This chapter documents Mapfumo’s shift to creating songs drawing on Zimbabwean traditional music—including mbira—and with lyrics that comment on the situation in the country as the liberation struggle reaches its violent crescendo. Moving from the Mhangura mine to Salisbury (Harare...

... and the strength of their performances carry the day, but deep problems of financial and personnel management constantly threaten success. Back home in Zimbabwe, Mapfumo moves ahead aggressively with his new sound—now enhanced by two or three mbira players—and songs that bravely critique the failings of Zimbabwe’s...

..., keyboards, or horns—essentially as an mbira band with bass and drums. The tour showcases Mapfumo’s versatility and capacity to adapt, but it is again fraught with financial mismanagement. The chapter portrays Mapfumo at a moment of relative isolation and vulnerability, having lost many peers. The death...

... This chapter describes the Blacks Unlimited at the peak of their success. Mapfumo is receiving strong international press and excellent bookings, including at the WOMAD festival in the UK and elsewhere. The band solidifies its three-mbira sound and releases one of its finest albums ever...