Mbira Renaissance Band open “Zvichapera” almost in a whisper and build it up with mbira, brass, drum kit and full band around a Shona song whose title means “it will end” and whose words ask when hardship will finally stop. The song comes from a mbira repertoire also known as “Mbirimo” and has travelled through Thomas Mapfumo’s politically charged 1980s chimurenga version, chimurenga being a mbira-rooted Zimbabwean protest style from the liberation era, and Chiwoniso Maraire’s late acoustic reading; this new cut from Canada keeps the same core line of someone asking when hardship began and when it will finish.
Formed in 2013 in Edmonton, Alberta, Mbira Renaissance Band play Zimbabwean mbira music through backgrounds in jazz, rock, Zimbabwean folk styles and reggae. On “Zvichapera”, Chiedza Zinyemba leads on vocals and hosho, the pair of Shona gourd shakers that lock in the mbira rhythm, while her brother Chaka Zinyemba plays mbira and sings. They are joined by George Koufogiannakis on guitar, James Stuart on bass, Tony Flanagan on drums and Munyaradzi Viya on keyboard, with John Dymianiw on trumpet, Jean-François Picard on saxophone and Matt White on trombone.
“Zvichapera” appears on Roto, released on 30 January. The title refers to zviroto, the Shona word for dreams, and points back to the origin story in which the first mbira player receives the instrument in a dream, wakes and shows others how to make and play it. Across the album the band move between songs of joy, guidance and memory, from opener “Toridza Mbira”, set to a mhande drum rhythm from Shona ceremonial practice, to “Mufaro” with JUNO-winning Afro-Cuban duo OKAN and pianist Jeremy Ledbetter, and “Zunza (Get Up)” with Reckie Lloyd from Edmonton group Sangea on West African percussion. Later in the sequence, an acoustic take on “Mauya” and “Zvichapera” with Chaka and Chiedza’s parents reflects how mbira music is shared in Zimbabwean homes, with storytelling and praise poetry alongside the instruments.
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