Zimbabwe
Music
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The Rough Guide to
the Music of Zimbabwe
(amazon.com) - USA (amazon.co.uk) - UK
by Various Artists - Audio
CD
Zimbabwe is a hotbed of vibrant, infectious music, reflected in this
compilation of some of the country's foremost artists, including Thomas Mapfumo
and the Blacks Unlimited, the dance grooves of the Bhundu Boys and the great
female vocalist Stella Chiwese. The album also highlights the key musical
traditions of dance guitar bands, mbira (thumb piano) and the beautiful vocals
of Black Umfolosi.
Take One
(amazon.com) - USA (amazon.co.uk) - UK
- by Hallelujah Chicken Run Band
Thomas Mapfumo is Zimbabwe’s biggest star,; this compilation presents
18 of the Hallelujah Chicken Run Band’s biggest and most influential hits,
recorded from 1974-1979 and all painstakingly remastered.
Mbira: Healing Music of Zimbabwe
(amazon.com) - USA (amazon.co.uk) - UK
by Erica Kundidzora Azim - Audio CD
It is the most gentle and soothing music I think I have ever heard. Mbira
is a musical instrument from Zimbabwe and it is believed that playing it is a
way to talk to the spirits, to the spiritual world. I think that's what happens
when you listen to this music - your spirit awakens, opens and relaxes...
(Reviewer: A music fan from Brooklyn, NY)
Singles
Collection: 1977-1986
(amazon.co.uk) - UK
by Thomas Mapfumo - Audio
CD
Listen to song samples on-line
Rhythms of
Life
(amazon.com) - USA (amazon.co.uk) - UK
by Ephat Mujuru & the Spirit of
the People - Audio CD
Master shona percussionist and mbira player Ephat
Mujuru performs traditional and contemporary music from Zimbabwe. Mujuru's
personal vocal style is both intimate and commanding, and his mastery of
traditional drums and the delicate, joyful sounding mbira, have made him an
internationally known performer.
Healing Tree:
Best of Stella Chiweshe
(amazon.com) - USA (amazon.co.uk) - UK
by Stella Chiweshe - Audio
CD
Stella Rambisai Chiweshe Nekati is a woman warrior who defied the
traditional gender roles of her native Zimbabwe by learning to play the mbira,
a thumb piano whose ritual connection to the ancestral spirits dates back to
the 15th century. More than two decades of international recording and concert
performances have earned Chiweshe the title "Queen of Mbira," a distinction
which led to this "best of" compilation, her first CD on a stateside
label
Live At El Rey [LIVE]
(amazon.com) - USA (amazon.co.uk) - UK
by Thomas Mapfumo - Audio CD
Mapfumo's more basic band with 2 mbiras, bass, drums, and himself provided
an extremely intimate structure for non-Shonas to peer into the magical art of
Chimurenga music. Buy this CD and see for yourself how mesmerizing this music
is and how it will carry into other times, places, attitudes, and states of
mind.
Ndega Zvangu
(amazon.com) - USA (amazon.co.uk) - UK
by Oliver Mutukudzi - Audio CD
IThe soul does drip on this unique CD from Zimbabwe's Oliver Mutukudzi.
With more than 30 Gold records, Tuku, as he is affectionately known, is one of
the finest, most uplifting musicians from Southern Africa.
Hondo
(amazon.com) - USA (amazon.co.uk) - UK
He is the voice of a generation in
southern African, a freedom fighter with a microphone and a mbira who sang a
revolution into existence in Zimbabwe in the '70s and '80s, and then found
international fame with the Shona music of his homeland mixed in with other
pan-African rhythms and some reggae
Chimurenga
Forever: The Best of Thomas Mapfumo
(amazon.com) - USA (amazon.co.uk) - UK
An excellent Thomas Mapfumo disc.
His music is different from that of the Bhundu Boys or the Four Brothers, as it
is calmer (for lack of a better word). Track 12, Shumba, is one I found to be
particularly good, as is Track 1, Servende. The CD contains only good tracks
and I would definitely recommend this album, along with the Four Brothers (The
Best of the Four Borthers, Makorokoto) and Bhundu Boys (True Jit) to others
seeking great music from Zimbabwe. (Reviewer: Marc Peverini from Burlington,
Canada)
Other Musics from Zimbabwe
(amazon.com) - USA (amazon.co.uk) - UK
by Various Artists - Audio CD
Vibrant Zimbabwe
(amazon.com) - USA (amazon.co.uk) - UK
by Various Artists - Audio CD
Listen to sample songs on-line
Soul of Mbira
[Zimbabwe]
(amazon.com) - USA (amazon.co.uk) - UK
by Various Artists - Audio CD
Wende Zako
(amazon.com) - USA (amazon.co.uk) - UK
by Various Artists - Audio CD
I'd swear this was a Zairian group. I'm addicted to that rumba sound so much,
it's unreal. Nice, nice piece of music. (Reviewer: a listener from Montreal,
Quebec)
Chimurenga '98 [LIVE]
(amazon.com) - USA (amazon.co.uk) - UK
by Thomas Mapfumo and the Blacks
Unlimited - Audio CD
Mapfumo truly is the voice of modern-day Zimbabwe, and
this recording only serves to further cement that position. While nothing can
beat seeing him live, playing in some shebeen in the high-density suburbs of
harare, this album comes close. (Reviewer: jeremy from Cedar Falls, IA,
USA)
Machanic Manyeruke & The
Puritans
(amazon.com) - USA (amazon.co.uk) - UK
by Various Artists - Audio CD
Listen to on-line samples
Ziwere Mukobenhavn
(amazon.com) - USA (amazon.co.uk) - UK
by Oliver Mutukudzi - Audio CD
I
have been a fan of Oliver Mtukudzi since I found his first album to be released
in the US, Tuku Music. I bought Ziwere Mukobenhavn blindly and was rewarded
greatly. The same infectious rhythm that captivated me when I first heard Tuku
was also there in this CD. His voice and the band are perfectly blended and
filled with genuine feeling. Another great CD by Tuku! (Reviewer: A music fan
from Atlanta, GA USA)
Festival Umdlalo
(amazon.com) - USA
by Black Umfolosi - Audio CD
Umfolosi's harmonies in both Ndebele and English are marvelous, containing
both social conciousness and traditional Zimbabwean themes. (Reviewer: Joshua
from CA, USA)
Shona Spirit
(amazon.com) - USA
by Dumisani Maraire & Ephat
Mujuru - Audio CD
Mbube!: Zulu Men's Singing
Competition
(amazon.com) - USA
by Various Artists - Audio CD
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