Mbira and kalimba: classic or dud? Search + destroy!

it's being recommended by me either way, ftr. the more traditional style (i've just learned, tyvm) is called shona. love the chants. they hit such unusual harmonies sometimes. really just a different shade of beaut. love love love.

*beauty

sorry, just very enthusiastic rn.

all of those nonesuch smithsonian reissues are worth a listen. i snapped up most of them on cd ~15 years ago when tower records were having their huge going out of business sales. the balinese gamelan and caribbean steel pan one worth a listen if you’re into mbira. there’s another one from that set called “zimbabwe: the african mbira : music of the shona people” which is just as good

https://www.nonesuch.com/albums/zimbabwe-african-mbira-music-shona-people

i guess there’s also third one (with a mbira and someone’s hands playing it on the cover) with a similar title that i haven’t ever heard. assume they’re all from the same big set of field recordings …

https://www.discogs.com/release/3980389-Shona-Africa-Zimbabwe-Shona-Mbira-Music

https://www.nonesuch.com/albums/zimbabwe-african-mbira-music-shona-people

i guess there’s also third one (with a mbira and someone’s hands playing it on the cover) with a similar title that i haven’t ever heard. assume they’re all from the same big set of field recordings …

https://www.discogs.com/release/3980389-Shona-Africa-Zimbabwe-Shona-Mbira-Music

yeah, i know the soul of mbira wth the hands and mbira cover.
i seem to remember that nonesuch issued the explorer series titles in the 90’s with similar black and white covers. that was the disc i had a one point.
don’t think i’ve heard the others. anyway, this is a great thread and i am also making a list from the recommendations

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J538b-OLRU

This has kalimba, no?

Jim Infantino's song "Gangway" has a kalimba solo in the middle.

And if I could find it on YouTube, I'd post the link, but I can't, so I won't.

Jazz drummer Chad Taylor incorporates mbira into a lot of his stuff, particularly with the Chicago Underground Duo, Trio, etc.

― but also fuck you (unperson), Friday, July 29, 2022 9:56 AM

thank you for this mention. i am aware of him because of his past collaborations with people from the sea and cake. looked into and this is the most recent such thing. gave it a quick preview and sounds good. will definitely revisit. also wow, had no clue he was involved in so many different things.

also back to pop songs that incorporate it-

mount kimbie, duh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjSKEyR2vDo

"marilyn" featuring micachu (2017)

i am really enjoying this reissue of a private press cassette by two early 80s beardos from cleveland (by same rvng spin-off label that reissued ursula leguin and todd barton's "music and poetry of the kesh")

it's all in this sort of "spiritual jazz meets geinoh yamashirogumi" mode, though the rest is more synth-y. probably a good one for fans of roland p young and midori takada's mkwaju albums?

anyway hard for me to tell because there's not really any credits on the album but i think there is a metallophone of some sort on this track?

universal liberation orchestra - consciousness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7BY8Z0ydW0

^^ this album very good. would say it’s also slept-on but all 555 LP copies have been snatched up and no copies left on internet. in fact just saw one go for three times the retail price i paid two weeks ago, so maybe not. you can still enjoy it on bandcamp and apple music and i recommend you do so.

Fantastic mix: https://www.nts.live/shows/open-hand-real-flames/episodes/open-hand-real-flames-22nd-november-2023

Liking it some , but a little too nts repetitive at times for me.