A Shona Mbira Performance in Zimbabwe

Heading toward the roundhouse after dark, I heard the powerful sound of people playing hosho (large maraca-like shakers) from some distance down the path. As I entered the dimly lit kitchen hut where the ceremony was being held, I could make out people clapping, singing, talking, and drinking; one frail old woman was dancing by herself in the center of the room. Beneath all of this there was still another sound, soft yet deep and moving like the combination of water and bells. This was the mbira. Two men, leaning against the far wall, sat with their hands hidden inside large calabash gourds playing mbira. They were the foundation of the musical activity, and the singers, dancers, and hosho players created their rhythmic patterns and improvised vocal parts based on the many simultaneous melodies that the mbira played.