Music
Press
A number of people who attended the Swedish group Zimba Marimba's performance at the Global Stage at HIFA (Harare Festival of the Arts)yesterday shed tears. After the show, one man said that he had been coming to HIFA ever since its inception and had never come across an ocassion that was so touching and honestly presented like that performance. Zimba Marimba plays Zimbabwean music-marimba, drums, hosho and magavhu(leg rattles). The nine piece group performed a number of songs among them Dzinova Kuna Save, Thomas Mapfumo's Chigwindiri, Vana Vangu Vapera and the late Jenkins Mandaza's Taive Gumi Nevaviri which I believe knocked hard on a number of peoples hearts. It was not only the singing that made Zimba a unique outfit but also the way they play marimba, flowing along with the African rhythms. Even the dance routine was not only just an act learnt through training but something that runs in each of the player's blood. That foot-stamping, the ululations, the unfettered joy that comes with the rhythms that light in the eyes and total control of marimba and rattles-all this is not learnt but fused into the performers'souls and lives.
Wonder Guchu, Harare Zimbabwe HIFA FESTIVAL 2007 www.allafrica.com/stories/200705070447.html - The Herald(Harare)
Marimbas Resound At Maitisong
2/21/2005 3:01:59 PM (GMT +2)
“Zimba Marimba” from Lund, Sweden played with a rousing response at Maitisong last Thursday.
A group of 11 Swedes - four males and seven females - tickled the Maru a Pula Marimbas, sang in Shona and other languages, played drums and danced, with wonderful enthusiasm.
Zimba Marimba is both the name of the group and the name of the instruments they play in Sweden.
The Zimba Marimbas or African Xylophones have been hand made in Sweden for the last 20 years by the late Olof Alexsson, an ethnomusicologist, who derived his designs from the timbila instruments found among the Chopi people of Mozambique.
They are superior to the marimbas used at Maru a Pula, as they are finely tuned and have incorporated into each instrument, sounding gourds or resonators that give additional vibrations and a buzz. They are also made of Mukwa from Zimbabwe or Padauk from West Africa.
It was nice to hear different types of music from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, West Africa and Botswana from the Swedes.
In Sweden, hundreds of people have learned to play the Zimba Marimbas from the Axelssons. Peta Axelsson was in Botswana and at Maitisong on Thursday night with her group of young performers from Sweden.
If only the Maru a Pula groups should play with the verve that the Swedes exhibited.
www.mmegi.bw/2005/February/Monday21/249166288361.html - Mmegi Vol22 No27 Arts/Culture
Discography
ALIVE (CD) Zimba Marimba Band 2004.
6 tracks with streaming on website www.zimbamarimbaband.com
under sub heading MEDIA/video/music
'Exploring the relevance of multicultural music education' A half hour film about our journey to Zimbabwe and Mozambique in 2006.
'Its Show Time'
In colaboration with the Media School in Malmo Sweden a 20 minute film about our participation at HIFA 2007 (Harare Festival of the Arts).
Filmed by Moa Dahlin and Frida Martensson.
Photos
Bio
Zimba Marimba Band is based in Lund, Sweden. We are a young vibrant percussion group and have played together for many years, developing an ensemble expertise that thrills us and the people we play for. Our main focus has been to learn about the music and culture of Zimbabwe. We explore the cultural context of the music and encourage our audiences to understand and participate in this great musical tradition that embraces and teaches us about LIFE!
We have had the amazing fortune to travel to Africa several times, living amongst its people and sinking deep into the magic of the music. Our visits to Zimbabwe, and especially to HIFA festival in Harare 2007 have inspired us to share our music with thousands of people at festivals, concerts, conferences and street gigs. We just love to play!
Under the guidance of many great African teachers, among them, Tipei Marazanye, Chaka Chawasarira, Luckson Chikutu, Rujeko Dumbutshena and with the influence of the brilliant Oliver Mtukudzi and Thomas Mapfumo, Zimba Marimba Band has developed a repertoire that encompasses marimba, mbira, song and dance. Its all learnt aurally, through accoustic and movement memory, enabling us to internalise the music and make it our own. Its the subtilty of the intricate rhythms, the suprise of the sensual drums and the great contribution of the hoshos(maraccas) and dance that give this music its enormous power.
We have also been engaged in many projects with young people from both Europe and Africa, investigating the interesting aspects surrounding peer teaching.....how young people can become excellent teachers! Its been a very interesting journey, exploring HOW we learn and why Africa has so much to offer the musical world.
When we perform, people tell us the hair stands up on their arms and that their hearts are filled with happiness! Its a great compliment and we experience exactly the same thing ourselves! We believe its all about finding the breath, finding the universality of musical experience and then sharing it with others.
In Mozambique we had a marvellous chance to live amongst the Chopi musicians, (the great timbila players) and to soak up the mysterious sounds of these great instruments and rhythms. In Botswana we studied with Alport Mhlanga, a marimba pioneer who developed the first marimba repertoire in Zimbabwe during the 70's. In South Africa, the great percussionist and composer Dizu Plaatjies helped open our eyes and ears to the complex Amadinda rhythms.
Some of our band members have even had the opportunity to study drumming and dancing in West Africa, more specifically in Guinea Conacry under the guidance of Max Soumah. Hours of music making in the sun (or shade) has given us a taste of the explosiveness and power involved in performance and the importance of inclusiveness through music in the African culture. We try to mirror this knowledge and experience in our work.
We may be young (17-21 years old) but we are great performers!
Our marimba instruments (Zimba Marimbas) are stunning. Based on the Chopi design they were developed by the late musician and ethnomusicologist Olof Axelsson when he lived in Zimbabwe during the 60s and 70s. He researched and built marimba instruments in order to reintroduce African music into the school curriculum. Zimbabwe was a British Colony at that time and was known as Rhodesia. Music education in the schools embraced only Western music and Olof saw the need for an instrument that could build a bridge between African and Western music. It is his wife Peta, a Zimbabwean by birth who started the marimba program in Sweden and who has taught and inspired us for many years.
We have performed in Harare Zimbabwe, (HIFA 2007), Gabarone Botswana, Cape Town South Africa, Denmark, Norway,Poland, Germany (NordischerKlang) Malmo Festival and World Mix Festival in Sweden and at many international conferences and children's events.
Check out our website: www.zimbamarimbaband.com.
(Not to be confused with a band in the USA called Zimba Marimba)
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