Hugh Tracey – The Music Of Africa - Musical Instruments 2. Reeds (Mbira)

Hugh Tracey (29 January 1903-23 October 1977) understood the potential loss of traditional African music to the encroachment of the west, and worked his whole life to preserve it. -Mark Holdaway

MOA28 features music of pentatonic mbiras of the Soga, Nyoro & Ilimba (Uganda); Luba & Alur (D.R. Congo); of hexatonic of the Ndau (Zimbabwe & Mozambique), and Luba (D.R. Congo); heptatonic of the Lala (Zambia), Nyamwezi (Tanzania), Venda (South Africa), Mbunda (Barotseland); Njanja & Karanga (Zimbabwe); and Binza & Medje (D.R. Congo).

The second installment in the 10-album series The Music of Africa, a collection of field recordings of African folk music released in 1972 by the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization The International Library of African Music. Recorded by British ethnomusicologist Hugh Tracey, the organization's founder who conducted field recordings since the 1920s, this album features mbira (thumb piano) performances by a total of 14 tribes residing in Uganda, Tanzania, Congo, Rhodesia, Zambia, Mozambique, South Africa, and Balotse Land. It's fascinating how the recordings are categorized by scale—pentatonic, hexatonic, and heptatonic. This truly wonderful collection lets you enjoy variations of the thumb piano, a similar instrument found across vast regions of the African continent. The recording quality is also superb. Highly recommended throughout.

Hugh Tracey with a Nyonganyonga player at Beira

The Music of Africa Series - Musical Instruments 2 Reeds (Mbira)

Label: Kaleidophone – KMA 2
Series: Music of Africa Series
Format: Vinyl, LP
Country: US
Released: 1972
Style: African, Folk, Mbira
Source: Digital MOA28

Recorded by: Hugh Tracey

1. Bachumirwa Tugwenderwa - Kyonda Ali Mugenyi ("The Careful Father") Nyoro 1:25
2. Ngaino Nolo - Maganga Kalila Zanswelo ("Maganga Wishes You Luck") Gogo 1:05
3. Various - Dyiowe Dyambule Kabanda ("The Ant Carries A Load") Luba 1:27
4. Lokwa Albert Na Jarimo - Ndiri (Alur) 1:29
5. Barwegira Ni Baine - Kiriyo ("A Woman Is Wonderful") Soga 2:09
6. Tabarirevu Muyambo - Detyetye Kusheka ("To Laugh") Ndau 3:38
7. Tabarirevu Muyambo - Hondoro ("Hondoro, Soul") Ndau 1:20
8. Simon Sitole - Meki, Ye Meki Woye! ("Meki Has Lost Something") Ndau 2:46
9. Josephu Ngonyama Shumba - Mwadzi Itira ("He Did It Himself") Ndau 1:36
10. Various (Chisanzhi – Beya Marcel, Kayoka Ladislas) - Kemai (Luba) 1:27
11. Edward Kalunga - Bata Wasungu Mulundu (Lala) 1:53
12. Ngayamiso Kitunga - Harusi ("Wedding Tune") Nyamwezi 1:24
13. Baranganani Mudzanani - Bidera (Venda) 1:19
14. Chabarwa Musunda Moyo Sinyoro - Magonde (Song for the Chief) Njanja 1:38
15. Various (Njari – Manyoni Wanyamandi, Saimoni Mashoka) - Gororombe Yawakuru (The Gororombe Dance Of The Elders) Karanga 1:32
16. Josiasi Yemba Mate - Sitima Senda Namoto ("The Train Goes With Fire") Mbunda 2:27
17. Josiasi Yemba Mate - Tambuka Nalikishi ("The Mask Dance") Mbunda 1:53
18. Engbaka Philippe - Muzeze ("Prisoner, Dance The Muzeze!") Binza 1:58
19. Ebogoma Gabriel - Nemangolia (Medje) 1:16
20. Ebogoma Gabriel - Dzoli (Medje) 1:45