Chiwoniso Maraire
Encyclopedia
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, and exponent of Zimbabwean mbira
Mbira
In African music, the mbira is a musical instrument that consists of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys have been attached. It is often fitted into a resonator...
music. She is the daughter of famed mbira master Dumisani Maraire
Dumisani Maraire
Abraham Dumisani Maraire , known to friends as "Dumi," was a master performer of the mbira, a traditional instrument of the Shona ethnic group of Zimbabwe. He specialized in the form of mbira called nyunga nyunga, as well as the Zimbabwean marimba...
.
On the album Ancient Voices (produced 1995) she melds the conventional and modern, sings in English and African languages, and uses contemporary instrument
Instrument
Instrument may refer to:* Instrument , a documentary of the band Fugazi, directed by Jem Cohen* Instruments , a performance visualizer-Science and technology:...
s and traditional African instruments such as the mbira
Mbira
In African music, the mbira is a musical instrument that consists of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys have been attached. It is often fitted into a resonator...
. She learned how to play the instrument despite the fact that traditionally, women in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
were not permitted to play it. The mbira, she says, "Is like a large xylophone
Xylophone
The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...
. It is everywhere in Africa under different names: sanza
Sanza
Sanza is a town and comune in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of southern Italy.-History:It is a small town placed on a hill surrounded by lots of mountains....
, kalimba, etc. For us in Zimbabwe it is the name for many string instrument
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
s. There are many kinds of mbiras. The one that I play is called the nyunga nyunga, which means sparkle-sparkle."
Chiwoniso has been fronting her acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
group Chiwoniso & Vibe Culture for several years. From 2001 to 2004, she was also a core member of the multinational all-women band Women’s Voice, whose original members hailed from Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
, Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
, America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
. Chiwoniso has also been busy in film, having worked on the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
s for movies and documentaries by an array of Zimbabwean writers and film producers in the last ten years. She also narrated a feature documentary Liemba released in 2010.
In February 2006, she joined Busi Ncube
Busi Ncube
Busi Ncube is a female Mbira singer from Zimbabwe, who sings in six African languages.Busi Ncube was a member of the Afro-Fusion group Illanga; the group released three albums during the 1980s, and played during the 1988 Human Rights Now! concert....
, Adam Chisvo, Peter "Mashasha" Mujuru and many others Zimbabwean artists in an ad-hoc band called The Collaboration and recorded Hupenyu Kumusha, Life at Home, Impilo Ekhaya. The band performed in Zanzibar's
Zanzibar
Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
Sauti za Busara
Sauti za Busara
The Sauti za Busara , also known as Zanzibar Music Festival, is an African music festival that is held every year in February in Zanzibar, Tanzania. The main venues of the festival are the Old Fort and the adjacent Forodhani Gardens, in Stone Town, the capital of Zanzibar, but side events take...
2007 Festival.
In September 2008, Chiwoniso released her fourth album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
and first international album in over ten years, Rebel Woman. The album perfectly mirrors Chiwoniso's life in the way that she sings about her personal experiences. From her own spirituality
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
to a passerby on the street, every song in Rebel Woman was influenced by a specific event in her life. Recognizing that artists play an important role in society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
, this masterful album speaks out in support of every issue Chiwoniso has witnessed, regardless of the consequences. She blends ancient, African soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, with modern spirit accompanied by the melodies of the mbira and deep grooves.
Speaking out against Police brutalityPolice brutalityPolice brutality is the intentional use of excessive force, usually physical, but potentially also in the form of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer....
While on tour in DenmarkDenmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
Chiwoniso spoke out against police brutality and violence in Zimbabwe.
She said,“To beat people, to threaten people, to put a person in a situation where they have to think for the next five hours about whether or not they are going to be okay — is a very, very bad thing to do.'
Discography
- Ancient Voices (released 2001)
- Timeless (released 2004)
- Hupenyu Kumusha, Life at Home, Impilo Ekhaya. The Collaboration: Volume 1. (2006)
- Rebel Woman (2008)
Compilations
- Listen To The Banned (2010)