* MUSIC: Flight of the Paper Eagle Oct 9, 2009
He plays mbira (thumb piano) and djembe, a hand drum, on the song Marketplace () and also adds percussion and vocals to the groups rendition of a traditional Hakka mountain song. The album features several compositions from the bands international members. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
• Interweaving rhythms Aug 21, 2009
Mataruse also plays the mbira, a traditional instrument intimately connected to the Shona culture that consists of 20-28 metal keys affixed to a soundboard. The pitch and tuning of the mbira vary from instrument to instrument, depending on the sound of the player's voice ... The band's configuration has changed a bit since then, and now consists of four marimba players (Mataruse, Rose Orskog, Zoe Kline and Dana Moffett), a mbira player (also Mataruse, who switches between this and the marimba),... (Juneau Empire)
Bridge to Zimbabwe: Music gives insight into African culture Jul 18, 2009
Solomon Murungu plays a few notes on the mbira ... He is holding a mbira, a 20-something-key African instrument, strapped with discarded beer bottle caps with unfamiliar names that shake out a drone of vibration ... The mbira is one of the principal instruments of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. (Bolton Common, MA)
Hear Gourd Musical Instruments at T... Mar 6, 2009
The CD s third track entitled Kundalini Calabash gives the thumb piano, or mbira, a workout ... The lyrics of Lopsided Gourd Dance invite listeners to move their bodies with the ethnic beat of a balafon, bass kalimba, mbira, drums, water drums, and rattles ... Swamp Jam closes out the CD by combining the lead shaker, drum, bass kalimba, balafon, rattles, water drums, and mbira in a tune as slow and bright as the sultry sun over a Bayou bog. (Suite101.com)
Othello, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds/Hackney Empire, London Feb 20, 2009
We see Othello paying court to Desdemona amid a blend of grand opera and African mbira music (at odds with his later account of the seduction); we see a piss-up to celebrate the victory at Cyprus; above all, we see barrack-room cabaret in which a black-faced minstrel sings musical standards and mimes sexual congress with a white Desdemona effigy, which then gives birth to a golliwog. Hunter has very definitely returned the racism to the foreground. (Financial Times)
