Glitterbeat Asu: CD-levy Vuosi: 2018, 14.09.2018 Kieli: und
A captivating collection of early singles by the renowned Zimbabwean Mbira master and a true African music icon. The songs were mostly recorded in the 1970’s, during the buildup to the Chimurenga revolution, and were only ever released in Stella’s home country. Deep resistance & culture.
„I am a rebel,“ smiles the 70-year-old Stella Chiweshe. Her album „Kasahwa: Early Singles“ offers a fascinating introduction to the world of Mbira, with the term not only referring to the instrument, consisting of 22 to 28 metal keys mounted on a wooden healing tree body, but also to a musical genre – and on a much wider level, to an entire culture and deeply spiritual lifestyle, very much at the core of the young Zimbabwean nation. Mbira is an ancient mystical music which has been played for over a thousand years by the Shona people, a group which forms the vast majority of the country’s population. Mbira pervades all aspects of Shona culture, both sacred and secular. Its most important function is as a “telephone to the spirits of people, water, trees, stones and birds,” used to contact both deceased ancestors and tribal guardians, at all-night ceremonies. „Kasahwa“ is a collection of impossible-to-find early seven inches, eight cuts spanning the period from 1974 to 1983 and representing Mbira in its purest form. None of these songs has been released outside of Africa so far.
The brilliant new mastering by Nick Robbins from London’s Sound Mastering studio, reveals the urgency of these songs by separating the music’s key elements (Mbira, vocals, and shakers) so that they gain an almost sculptural effect.
