Mabanzi Marimba

Bio:

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News: February: Meeting Thomas Mapfumo after his concert in Honolulu (LCC) July: July 7: First Friday ArtWalk Live From the Lawn World Beat Concert: Photo by DARK May: Look for Mabanzi Marimba in the upcoming issue of Honolulu Magazine! We just had a killer photoshoot on Lanikai, it was hilariously windy, and we've been told it came out great. We'll try to put some photos up soon. In the mean time, we've been auditioning new instrumentalists and vocalists, so we'll work hard all summer to get everyone up to speed for this fall! March: Mabanzi Marimba has won the World Music category of the Hawaii Music Awards. See the full list of winning musicians as well as a calendar of events for the awards week in March here. We will be performing during the awards ceremony on March 18 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Thank you for voting! About us: Mabanzi Marimba is a 13-piece band that plays high energy Zimbabwe-style dance music with seven full size wooden marimbas (three sopranos, two tenors, a baritone, and a bass), hosho (gourd shakers), mbira (thumb piano), guitar, bass, drums, and four vocalists. Mabanzi plays high energy, polymelodic rhythms and soulful grooves that move the body and spirit. A Mabanzi performance is guaranteed to get you up and dancing. People of all ages respond with enthusiasm and delight when hearing this joyful upbeat music from Zimbabwe. Booking: Besides public and private concert performances, Mabanzi is also available for workshops, lessons, and other educational events teaching and demonstrating Zimbabwean style music on marimba, mbira, and hosho. Contact: Mailing list Join our list for band news and upcoming appearances. bookings@mabanzi.com e-mail us for bookings or call Candice Pacheco at 808.261.6157. About our Music: Marimba music from the Shona peoples of Zimbabwe is an exciting musical form which inspires dance and joy! The music ranges from complex fast driving polyrhythms to slow trance-like pieces. Some characteristics of traditional Shona music include interlocking melodies that repeat in circular fashion, polyrhythmic meters, and the unique buzzing sounds which are produced on the african-style marimba by cellophane covered holes on the resonators. In traditional society, the mbira music is used in trance-inducing all night dancing ceremonies to summon ancestral spirits for their guidance. The music is highly infectious, joyous, upbeat, and wonderful to dance to. Marimbas are finely crafted xylophones made from hardwoods such as vermilion, mahogany and padouk. The keys are fine-tuned to reflect the tones played in African societies. Each key has a resonator which amplifies the sound, producing a unique musical effect--from the clear, bell-like tones of the soprano marimba to the deep, percussive tones of the bass. Marimbas are about five feet long; their heights vary from two feet to more than five feet. The ensemble of instruments creates music that is exciting to listen to...and wonderful for dancing! The music has a universal quality that appeals all ages and backgrounds. African marimba music sounds unique to North American audiences because most of the marimba music played in the Western Hemisphere has been South American. However, marimbas originated in Africa hundreds of years ago and were imported to South America in the sixteenth century. The original African sounds were incorporated into and changed by the music of the local cultures. It is only within the last twenty years that African marimba music has flourished in the United States, particularly in the Pacific Northwest and Colorado. During most of that time, live marimba music could be heard only in limited areas of the West Coast or Boulder. More recently, it has expanded nationwide. Now Shona marimba music has arrived in Hawaii. Links: Our main site: Mabanzi.com Assorted Links: Dandemutande The source for all things Zimbabwean Zimfest Annual Zimbabwean music festival Zambuko Shona Music & Culture Rhythmweb Source for Percussion You might also enjoy: Thomas Mapfumo One of the first to adapt Shona mbira music to electric instruments. We play a version of his song Nyoka Musango. Forward Kwenda One of the greatest living virtuosos of mbira Afropop.org The best of music from across Africa today. Purchase songs by the track, without DRM protection. Check out the free song of the day. Articles, news, radio, and more.

Member Since:

September 06, 2005

Members:

CoFounder Candice Pacheco also founded the San Francisco experimental synth band D'Cuckoo in the 80's and 90's, combining African singers, custom-built midi marimbas, and Japanese Taiko drums, and toured over the US and Japan until 2001 when she moved to Oahu. Candice aka "The Duchess of Tweak" also wrote, produced, and engineered music projects at her San Francisco recording studio, D'Cuckoo Park, including solo projects as well as co-producing the second Planet Drum CD SupraLingua with Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead. After moving to Oahu Candice wanted to go back to the Shona roots music and was inspired to start a group that did not require over a ton of electronics or anything that needed to be plugged in.

CoFounder Chris Zorn taught and performed marimba and mbira music in Colorado for 20 years, including at the InterArts department of Naropa University, and founded and taught for 9 years at Tobatana: A Center for Multi-cultural Music and Education. Bands he has played with include Anzanga Marimba and The Low Flying Knobs. He holds a Masters degree in ethnomusicology, and teaches music at UH's Education Laboratory School, as well as at KCC. Although Chris now only occasionally plays with Mabanzi he remains our mentor and we frequently consult with him on arrangements and the fine points of Shona music. We are deeply indebted to Chris for his many hours of teaching.

Drummer Steve Howells grew up in South Africa, where he played drums for an impressive array of influential South African groups with musical styles ranging from Alternative Afrikaans Rock all the way through the musical spectrum to Zulu Maskanda and Mbaqanga. Nearly 2 decades of touring and gigging in Southern Africa has infused Steve's soul with the pulse of Africa, and he hopes to bring this beat to the Mabanzi sound and to the dance floor at future gigs! He is also an accomplished multi-instrumentalist and has independently released a CD of his own compositions, Into the Blue. Listen to this CD here.

Influences:

Anzanga Marimba, Musango Marimba, Thomas Mapfumo and The Blacks Unlimited, D'Cuckoo