Monoswezi - The Village (2013)

The Village, Monoswezi's debut album, is a collection of rearranged Zimbabwean traditional songs blended with a cool Nordic edge. With members hailing from Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Norway and Sweden the boundary-crossing band's sound is entirely unique. Articulated mbira rings out atop colourful woodwind and the gentle rhythm section.

The music is structured via looping cyclical riffs that lock down into solid rhythmic patterns. The band describes their music as 'strong', a term that communicates well the steady, circuitous nature of the music. It is an idea that has been a source of interest for other composers, including minimalist maestros Philip Glass and Steve Reich, whose parallel influence can be heard on works such as the cell-like track 'Metal Drum'. Here the atmosphere conjures up the same spooky, anticipatory feeling as Glass's Glassworks or Reich's Music for Pieces of Wood.
vHope Masike, who can be heard playing mbira and singing throughout the album, is a remarkable musician, trained in traditional music, jazz, dance, and more. Not only can she interlock tight rhythms while singing with a smooth unforced voice, but she is one of a relatively small number of females who play the mbira. Following in the footsteps of pioneers such as Stella Chiweshe, Hope plays the instrument with pride. Hallvard Godal's saxophone technique is clean and unadorned, a sound that locks in perfectly with the struck aesthetic of the mbira. Calu contributes gentle rolling vocals which he sings in Ronga, his Mozambican mother tongue.

Tracklist:

01 Hondo (music trad, words Hope Masike)
02 Ndinewe (Hope Masike)
03 Kuenda Mbire (trad, arr Hope Masike/Monoswezi)
04 Mapfunde (trad/Hope Masike)
05 Kalahari (Hallvard Godal)
06 Heya! (Hope Masike)
07 Nhemamsasa (trad, arr Hope Masike/Monoswezi)
08 Xitimela (João Cabaço, arr Monoswezi)
09 Matue Tue (trad/Calu Tsemane, arr Calu Tsemane)
10 Metal Drum (Calu Tsemane, arr Monoswezi)

Personnel:

Hope Masike - vocals, mbira;
Calu Tsemane - vocals, percussion;
Hallvard Godal - saxophone, clarinet;
Putte Johander - bass;
Erik Nylander - drums, percussion.