Hukwe Zawose – Chibite (1996)
https://amf.didiermary.fr/hukwe-zawose-album-chibite-1996/
Hukwe Zawose was a prominent Tanzanian musician.
He played the ilimba, a large lamellophone similar to the mbira, as well as several other traditional instruments.
Enchanting, innovative songs from Tanzania’s national treasure, using the vital tools of his musical ancestors: thumb piano, fiddle flute and voice. There is a Swahili proverb, “Muziki Ni Chakula Cha Roho,” […]
Thomas Mapfumo – Marudzi Nemarudzi
https://amf.didiermary.fr/thomas-mapfumo-marudzi-nemarudzi/
Thomas Mapfumo was the voice of a revolution, the icon whose music soundtracked the death of Rhodesia and the birth of Zimbabwe.
But, by the time he recorded Rise Up in 2006, the tables were turned, the optimism extinguished. The Zimbabwean authorities now hounded Mapfumo, who quietly slipped out of the country to live in […]
Francis Bebey – Psychedelic Sanza
https://amf.didiermary.fr/francis-bebey-psychedelic-sanza/
The incredible “Psychedelic Sanza (1982-1984)” album is a beautifully dreamy celebration of the uniquely affective timbre of the sanza, or African thumb piano, by Francis Bebey. […]
Chiwoniso – Rebel Woman
https://amf.didiermary.fr/chiwoniso-rebel-woman/
Chiwoniso Maraire (5 March 1976 – 24 July 2013) was a Zimbabwean singer, songwriter, and exponent of mbira music, traditionally used by male musicians.The Mbira Queen is gone so young.
Pierre Didy Tchakounté
https://amf.didiermary.fr/pierre-didy-tchakounte-lui-moi/
Pierre Didy Tchakounté “Ou c’est lui, ou c’est moi”, from album “Magabe Man”.
Depending on the country, the “thumbs piano” is called a Mbira, a Sanza, a Blab… The “queen of this instrument” was Stella Chiweshe, from Zimbabwe. Pierre Didy Tchakounté is considered the father of modern mangambeu, a traditional music and dance from Cameroon. […]
Musique Gbáyá – Chants à penser (Thinking Songs)
https://amf.didiermary.fr/rss-club/musique-gbaya-chants-a-penser/
Des chants d’intimité accompagnés à la sanza ("piano à pouces") et aux hochets, d’un important peuple centrafricain. Le répertoire de la musique des Gbáyá est constitué pour l’essentiel de chants liés à toutes sortes d’activités telles que chants d’amour, d’amusement, berceuses, chants de conte, de deuil, de chasse etc. Voici les chants à penser. [...]
Taa! – Field recordings from Botswana
https://amf.didiermary.fr/taa-field-recordings-botswana/
“Taa! Our Language May Be Dying, But Our Voices Remain” is an album of field recordings from Botswana.
Taa (“human being”) is a rich language as it possesses 112 sounds, the most of any language in the world, but is on the verge of extinction. This captivating music, shamanic ghostly ballads from the farthest reaches […]
RIP Mbuya Stella Chiweshe
https://amf.didiermary.fr/rip-mbuya-stella-chiweshe/
Veteran award-winning musician and Mbira artist Mbuya Stella Chiweshe, the “Queen of Mbira” died in January 2023.She was internationally known for her singing and playing of the mbira dzavadzimu, a traditional instrument in Zimbabwe, that she learned to play between 1966 to 1969, when fewer females played this instrument.
“I am a rebel,” […]
Francis Bebey – Essok’am
https://amf.didiermary.fr/francis-bebey-essokam/
Né à Douala, Francis Bebey (1929-2001) est considéré comme l’un des pionniers de la musique africaine en Occident. Chanteur et guitariste, il était également poète, conteur et grand joueur de sanza, le piano à pouces, instrument relativement inconnu à cette époque hors d’Afrique. Ecrivain, il publie plusieurs ouvrages. [...]
