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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nDumi\u2019s mbira of choice was the nyunganyunga, a 15-Note lamellophone named after the community from which it originated. Dumi himself personified the instrument on the credits of his 1986 album, Tichazomuona<\/em>, soon to be reissued by Nyami Nyami Records. The album also includes Dumi\u2019s wife, Chengeto Linda \u201cMai Chi\u201d Nemarundwe and daughter, Chiwoniso \u201cChi\u201d Maraire. This family affair, so beautifully captured and masterfully composed, is an emblem of modern mbira music. It\u2019s re-release was also the impetus to reach out to another member of the Maraire family, Tendai Maraire (performing in groups such as C.A.V.E., Chimurenga Renaissance and Shabazz Palaces) to get a better impression of his father and the \u201csecondary vibrations\u201d of the Maraire family\u2019s musical resonance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy Dad had no childhood,<\/em>\u201d Tendai told us, comparing him to Micheal Jackson in his relentless devotion to his craft and brutal nature of his early upbringing. Dumi grew up in colonial Rhodesia where the mbira was seen as a threat to the Christian hegemony of the colonial state. What was once a vital symbol of Shona spirituality was repressed and associated with evil spirits. Though this didn\u2019t seem to discourage Dumi who in 1966, attended the Kwanongoma College of Music in Bulawayo, developing in parallel to music icons like Thomas Mapfumo and Stella Chiweshe. The social burden of pursuing the mbira in the time before Zimbabwe\u2019s official independence in 1980 can\u2019t be understated. Nor can, after accepting a professorship at the University of Washington\u2019s ethnomusicology department from 1968, the pressure put on him as an immigrant to exceed expectations. Tendai speaks of his father\u2019s love for adversity and responsibility edified in his father\u2019s pugnacious will to reintroduce the mbira curriculum to schools upon his return to Zimbabwe in 1982. \u201cWhen he went back to teach, he got rid of the Classical music curriculum to teach kids their culture,<\/em>\u201d Tendai explains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Though generous enough to speak with us, Tendai admits that he didn\u2019t have a close relationship with his father. Time, it seems, was the ultimate sacrifice his father made to his life\u2019s work. It wasn\u2019t until Tendai himself matured in his musical career that he realized the burden of living a life on tour, in the studio and inside the whirlwind of responsibilities that come as a public figure. Dumi\u2019s precedent for the music had its penalties. \u201cIf Miles Davis was in town and we were having a show,\u201d<\/em> Tendai recounts behind a smile, \u201che\u2019s going to Miles Davis<\/em>.\u201d On the aforementioned album, Tichazomuona<\/em>, Chiwoniso, Tendai’s half sister who was 10 years old during her vocal recording on the title track, has her name slightly misspelled on the album credits. Note however, that when the Nyunga Nyunga Mbira was given credits on Tichazomuona<\/em> it\u2019s a picture of the family<\/em> with the mbira rather than the instrument itself\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Chiwoniso would go on to receive many more credits. As early as 15 years old Chi joined a hip-hop trio, A Peace of Ebony, a first introducing mbira to contemporary beats. Later she joined one of Zimbabwe\u2019s most popular groups, The Storm, led by guitarist Andy Brown who later became her husband. Her first solo album Ancient Voices<\/em>, released in 1995, reached critical acclaim and brought the contemporary mbira sound even further. Another story of mastery, music and sacrifice. Her final track \u201cZvichapera\u201d, a return to the traditional mbira sound, was recorded shortly before her death in 2013 at just 37 years old. \u201cMe and her were tight,<\/em>\u201d Tendai said of his sister. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDeep pools have become crossing points, crossing points have become deep pools\u201d<\/p>Shona proverb<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Tendai has his own story as well, intimately linked to the instrument that manifests in the lives of the Maraire clan. He told us the story of his introduction to the mbira. During a trip back home to Zimbabwe to establish a deeper relationship with his family, he hit an unexpected crossroads with destiny. It was during a baptism ceremony that one of the elders made a prophecy. Tendai\u2019s eyes caught sight of an mbira in the room and the female elder instructed, \u201cThat\u2019s yours. You\u2019ll play it in more countries than anyone ever has before.<\/em>\u201d Tendai took the prophecy to heart. He taught himself to play and carries his mbira with him on tour and in his travels around the world. \u201cWhen I got there <\/em>(Zimbabwe) it called me and there was nothing I could do about it. It changed my whole life,<\/em>\u201d Tendai says, \u201cIt\u2019s a gateway to a whole \u2018nother dimension.<\/em>\u201d Listening to Tendai\u2019s musical catalog<\/a>, though it usually dabbles in experimental hip-hop, the mbira is never too far away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMusic is the one thing that was the constant keeping the family afloat,<\/em>\u201d Tendai concludes as we wrap up our talk. He sees this latest release as a way of honoring his father\u2019s purpose, preserving the knowledge and bringing it to a new generation. The family, again, having blurred lines between the individuals and the instrument itself. \u201cThe only sad part to me is that you don\u2019t get to see him perform,<\/em>\u201d he mentions. No arguments here. Though Tendai hinted that while digging through his father\u2019s affairs he found a vast collection of notes, manuscripts and VHS videos that could lead to an eventual documentary. The duty and the sacrifice continues. But Tendai is not daunted. \u201cI know what my family means to Zimbabwe. They mean a lot.<\/em>\u201d Secondary vibrations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/mbira_dumi-1010x723.jpg\")
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