{"id":104166,"date":"2022-04-12T10:18:12","date_gmt":"2022-04-12T08:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/?p=104166"},"modified":"2022-04-12T16:38:28","modified_gmt":"2022-04-12T14:38:28","slug":"mbira-dumisani-maraire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/mbira-dumisani-maraire\/","title":{"rendered":"Zimbabwean mbira ambassador Dumisani Maraire returns with Tichazomuona"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Nyami Nyami Records unveils a reissue of Dumisani Maraire\u2019s album <em>Tichazomuona<\/em>, initially recorded by the Zimbabwean mbira player and his family in 1986, six years after Zimbabwe\u2019s independence.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Born in 1944, Dumisani Maraire pioneered the spread of traditional Shona music beyond Zimbabwe\u2019s frontiers. He moved to the US in the late 60s where he introduced American students to the mbira, a traditional instrument of the Shona made of staggered metal tines attached to a wooden board (the player then uses his fingers to pluck the tines). \u201cDumi\u201d is credited with developing the 1\u201315 number notation used on the mbira, and notating the song \u201cChemutengure\u201d, a song beginners use to learn to play the instrument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The mbira has a complicated past. It was considered sacred in Shona culture and played a vital role in traditional ceremonies. However, it became heavily looked down upon by colonialist missionaries who argued the instrument was connected to evil spirits. In 1980, following Zimbabwe independence and the collapse of Rhodesia, the instrument regained some popularity. The pan-Africanism and patriotism in the postcolonial era brought a more tolerant and respectful stance towards musical instruments like the mbira. Traditional music began receiving more airtime on radio and television. Several artists such as Robson Banda started performing popular guitar music that replicated the mbira\u2019s sound. Nyami Nyami Records released a reissue of their album <a href=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/robson-banda-soweto\/\"><em>Soweto<\/em><\/a><em> <\/em>last october.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Mwandikanganwa - Dumi Maichi Na Chi Maraire &amp; Nyunga Nyunga Mbira\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Ptkh1EJ1JsE?feature=oembed&#038;autoplay=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption>Mwandikanganwa &#8211; Dumi-Maichi-Na Chi-Maraire &amp; Nyunga Nyunga Mbira<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201c<em>When a mbira player plays his instrument, he is not playing it for the world. He is not trying to please people, nor is he performing. What he is doing is conversing with a friend. He teaches his friend what to do, and his friend teaches him what to do&#8230; To me, a mbira is a lively instrument<\/em>\u201d, <\/em>Maraire said<em>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dumisani Maraire and his family &#8211; his wife Mau Chi and daughter Chiwoniso &#8211; returned to Zimbabwe not long after the country\u2019s independence and recorded the album <em>Tichazomuoana <\/em>together. The Nyunganyunga Mbira is also credited separately on the original album cover, probably because of the personal relation Dumi had with his instrument. Maraire\u2019s daughter Chiwoniso, who was ten at the time, is featured on the title track. She went on to become an accomplished musician herself; the first-ever release of Nyami Nyami Records was her song \u201cZvichapera\u201d, which she recorded a few weeks before she passed away in 2013. The young label is known for its passion for Southern African music as explored in this<a href=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/nyami-nyami-le-son-inoui-de-lafrique-australe\/\"> interview<\/a> given by co-founder Charles Houdart, in which he mentioned the late artist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/nyaminyamirecords.bandcamp.com\/album\/dumi-maichi-na-chi-maraire-nyunga-nyunga-mbira?from=embed\" target=\"_blank\">Tichazomuona<\/a> <\/em><\/em>by Dumisani Maraire out May 6th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1010\" height=\"1054\" src=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Tichazomuona_cover-1010x1054.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-104161\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nyami Nyami Records unveils a reissue of Dumisani Maraire\u2019s album Tichazomuona, initially recorded by the Zimbabwean mbira player and his family in 1986, six years after Zimbabwe\u2019s independence. Born in 1944, Dumisani Maraire pioneered the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":104160,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3944],"tags":[40612,40887],"location":[8350],"yst_prominent_words":[8403,12757,13326,8414,8447,8933,28324,31593,31591,31594,28314,8438],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104166"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104166"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=104166"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=104166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}