HSM. Stella Rambisai Chiweshe

T a l k I n g M b I r a :

Spirits of Liberation

By Solomon Murungu

http://www.zambuko.com

When the history of in Zimbabwe is written, when its Hall of Fame beckons its most priced spiritual ambassadors, pioneering liberators and national heroines, HSM Stella Rambisai Cheweshe will command a special place in that universe. Rarely is any country blessed with the citizenship of Stella Chiweshe’s mbira and spiritual evangelism.

For almost forty years and counting, Her Spiritual Majesty, Stella Rambisai Chiweshe has steadfastly blazed a trail along which many other women have followed. Refusing to be relegated to an mbira spectator, Chiweshe was driven from within to convince his uncles and grandparents to teach her how to play the mbira. Not only did she fight the colonial mentality that prohibited indigenous worship, mbira playing and any activity that honors ancestors, but she also had to break a gender barrier that accorded the mbira playing privilege to men only. After two years to persuading his uncles to teach her without success, Stella finally got instruction from one of her uncles.

Florian Hertz quotes her follows:

“I first learned mbira in 1966, in Harare and Mhondoro. I was taught by my uncle. But he doesn’t play any more because his fingers have become stiff. I last saw him in 1974. He was a full time player, a very old man who just sits at home and plays. He saw I very much wanted to learn. Saw me trying to find someone to teach me. He said come and sit next to me and I will show you how to do it. He was very kind. Other people thought they cant teach a woman to play, because mbira’s not a woman’s instrument, its meant to be played only by men. They say if you play mbira you’ll not be able to do women’s work, you’ll always be on the men’s. It is very painful to play mbira. Maybe they feel sorry for a woman to do such a painful thing. Women are also not meant to play the drum because it’s a man’s instrument. If a woman is playing it, it shows no respect for tradition, but I play it because I wan to. When my uncle showed me how to play, I had a burning lump in my chest – a pain like when a close person dies. But when he said ‘come learn’, the pain started to go [away] and I felt good. It didn’t take a long time to learn which keys to play. What takes a long time is how to play for a long time. It is like the wheel goes round and round. At a ceremony you must be able to play for the whole night. You get blisters on the fingers. But you must care and feel for the music, you must play hard for the people to hear because mbira [in its indigenous setting] is not amplified”

After Zimbabwe independence in 1980, Chiweshe participated in the National Dance Company of Zimbabwe a choreographer, dancer, musician and many other roles. However her most prominent role has been pioneering roles traditionally reserved for men and thereby empowering women to bring their artistic abilities on the national stage.

In another eyebrow raising phenomenon, in the spirit of personal and spiritual liberation, Chiweshe experiemented and successfully integrated marimba music with mbira, a groundbreaking event in the development of Shona music. In the early days, her critics suggested she was dishonoring the mbira tradition, however the very act of integration the two, Chiweshe was able to persuade young people to listen to mbira music more than they did before. At a time when the Zimbabwean youth where totally disoriented from years on colonial and religious disinformation, the integration of marimba with mbira brought a lot of young people closer to their heritage.

Sporting her latest recording, “Talking Mbira – Spirits of Liberation”, Chiweshe demonstrates her versatility from hauntingly powerful songs like “Musandifungise” to high energy marimba/mbira combinations like “Manja”. Here is how Bob Tarte of Amazon.com reviews the latest release from Stella Chiweshe:

Plenty of artists claim to play "trance music," but Zimbabwe's Stella Chiweshe delivers the genuine article. Portions of her repertoire come straight from the religious rituals of the Shona people, and audience members at her concerts have claimed spontaneous healings or visits from spirits in response to the beautiful melodies she coaxes from her mbira "thumb piano." Even if you don't experience supernatural effects, a few moments of Chiweshe's delicate but powerful playing will surely raise your bliss levels by a factor of 10. She pioneered the practice of blending mbiras and marimbas in ensemble performances and is the most famous woman band leader in Zimbabwe. Talking Mbira shows her in full command of her talents. The nicely balanced blend of material ranges from the tradition-based opening song "Ndabaiwa" to modern fare like "Chachimurenga," a chimurenga liberation song that gets a "Future Mix" dub-style treatment courtesy of Hijaz Mustapha of the 3 Mustaphas 3. Inspired by dream visits from her late brother, Elfigio, Chiweshe layers her meditative mbira on "Ndangariro" for a densely interwoven sound more intricate than a tapestry. "Paite Rima," a plea for world peace addressed to potent lion spirits, eschews instrumentation for stirring vocal harmonies reminiscent of Zulu songs, while "Tapera" uses deeply textured mbira and a distant chorus to lament the natural disasters and political turmoil of her home country. --Bob Tarte.

It is with the hope for peace, spiritual liberation and support for indigenous cultures and religions that Chiweshe embarks on a rare visit of a spiritual dimension to Boston and New England. Don't miss a legend.