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| Sekuru Thomas Wadharwa Gora plays mbira [from sekuru.org] |
K7s are important for the African market: they are easy to duplicate and play. Musically they're interesting because often less concessions are made to Western taste and pop influences. The mbira is a lamellophone, a thumb piano. Traditionally, mbira music was played by, among others, the Shona people in long nocturnal sessions, the bira, in which people get into a trance and thus come into contact with the ancestors, who are close to the gods. Healing properties are also attributed to mbira music. Nowadays mbira music is also played at parties etc.
K7s included "Shumba" by Sekuru Gora [1996] and "Madzinzinzi" by Mazai Mbira Group [1986].
Sekuru "Grandfather" Gora
Sekuru ("Grandfather") Gora, born Thomas Wadharwa in 1937 and died 2002 March 10, was one of the most famous mbira players of all time. If you go to any corner of Zimbabwe and mention mbira, without fail Sekuru Gora’s name will come up. As a child, Gora would constantly watch his grandfathers building and playing the mbira. When he was fourteen he picked up an mbira for the first time and, to everyone’s amazement, was already able to play. Even at that early age he was called on to play at the mapira ceremony, where a homwe (spirit medium) becomes possessed by an ancestral spirit with the help of the mbira music. These ancestral spirits guide and protect their living descendants. Gora was a master at conveying a message in extremely witty and sometimes biting ways.
source: tinotenda.org/mbiramusicians.htm
Mazai Mbira Group
Although not so popular in Zimbabwe, Mazai Mbira Group is one of the most versatile mbira group in Zimbabwe, with their unique intepretation of popular arrangements in the mbira repertoire.
source: zambuko.com/mbirapage/mbira_store/pages/LPs.html
Listen to Shumba by Sekuru Gora
VA ZIMBABWE K7s - Mbira Music [CZ]
recorded from ConcertZender in 2006.Nov.25, tracklist:
- Sekuru Gora: 1.Chipembere / 2.Kuzanga / 3.Bukatiende / 4.Shumba / 5.Chipindura / 6.Nhema Musasa
- Mazai Mbira Group: 11.Tibayane / 12.Vavarira / 13.Bangiza
MultiMedia [some]:
- short video with Sekuru "Grandfather" Gora - vimeo
- book: The Art of Mbira - Musical Inheritance and Legacy [2020, by Paul F. Berliner]
- Mbira Singles Collection posted in 2009 at wrldsrv
Discographies [probably far from complete]
Sekuru "Grandfather" Gora
1983: Ephat Mujuru & Spirit of the People - Mbavaira [LP/K7] - featuring Thomas Wadharwa Gora on vocals and lead mbira
1987: Ephat Mujuru & Spirit of the People - Mutimukuru [LP/K7] - vocals by Gora Thomas Wadharwa
COMP: Ephat Mujuru Mbira Ensemble 1980 - Mavembe (Gandanga) Tuning - at mbira.org
1991: Thomas ‘Sekuru Gora’ Wadharwa & Tute Chigamba / Tute & Henry Chigamba - Gandanga/Mavembe Tuning [Mbira] - at mbira.org
1996: Shumba [1996, K7, Zimbabwe #RTLP.164] - played tracks are from this K7
2001: Sekuru Gora with Chigamba and Moyo - Vakuru Chaivo [CD] - at mhumhirecords.org
COMP: Mavembe/Gandanga Tuning Collection #3 - at mbira.org
Mazai Mbira Group
1985: Chapunga [LP, Zimbabwe #ZML.1023]
1986: Madzinzinzi [LP/K7, Zimbabwe #ZML.1029] - at hollandtunneldive
1988: Nyamaropa Nhimutimu [1988, LP, Zimbabwe ?#ZML.1036] - at zambuko
COMP: Mazai Mbira Group - Mavembe/Gandanga Tuning Collection #2 [download] - at mbira.org
2009: Mazai Mbira Group 2009 - Gandanga/Mavembe Tuning Mbira [CD/download] - at mbira.org
Thanks for the mbira vibes. One of the last concerts I attended before the whole pandemic shituation exploded was a Stella Chiweshe solo show in a zuerich bar. Attendance was about twenty people. It was excellent.
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