Chris Berry is a master of both 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...

(thumb piano) and the ngoma drum, from the Shona people

Shona people

Shona is the name collectively given to two groups of people in the east and southwest of Zimbabwe, north eastern Botswana and southern Mozambique.-Shona Regional Classification:...

 of Southern Africa

Southern Africa

Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...

. He has earned the title of gwenyambira (“one whose music calls the spirits”), a distinction reserved only for those who have achieved the highest fusion of the technical and the magical in Shona music

Shona music

Shona music is the music of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. There are several different types of traditional Shona music including mbira, singing, hosho and drumming. Very often, this music will be accompanied by dancing, and participation by the audience...

. His record sales have reached platinum album sales in Zimbabwe and Mozambique

Mozambique

Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...

 for his work with the band Panjea.
Berry was born in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, and at age 18 left for Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

 to study music there with his mentor Titos Sompa, with whom Berry had been studying since age 13. After originally arriving in Congo’s Brazzaville

Brazzaville

-Transport:The city is home to Maya-Maya Airport and a railway station on the Congo-Ocean Railway. It is also an important river port, with ferries sailing to Kinshasa and to Bangui via Impfondo...

, his fascination of Zimbabwean mbira music eventually led him to Zimbabwe’s capital city Harare

Harare

Harare before 1982 known as Salisbury) is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its...

, where he settled and studied under mbira master Monderek Muchena for ten years.

While studying in Zimbabwe, Berry became one of the first Westerners to be accepted among the elder mbira masters as one of their own.

“I played for a lot of ceremonies where people would become possessed,” said Berry. “Some of the old ancestors who came back spoke to me through these people: ‘What are you doing here? There are lots of misguided people, lost and confused people, in your country. They’re killing each other there. It’s time for you to take what you’ve learned and bring it to your own country because they need it more than we need it here. That’s your job. You’re the bridge maker.’ ”

After over a decade living in Africa, Berry has now settled back in America

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.