Thomas Mapfumo & the Blacks Unlimited, Bongo Love and Thione Diops Afro Groove

Thomas Mapfumo is known as the “lion of Zimbabwe.” He’s one of two musicians from that country who has a global reputation. His best songs, like “Hanzvadzi,” blend the Afropop sound of Harare with the traditional rhythms of the mbira (thumb piano). The actual function of the mbira is to bring into presence the spirits of men and women from a world that has long vanished (“mbira dzavadzimu”), a world that was not timeless but moved at a much slower pace of time. Old mbira music speaks to this old time that was organized by the seasons (dry and wet), ruled by kings and heroes, and haunted by evil forests and spirit lions (mhondoro). The one thing that Zimbabwe shall remember Mapfumo for is being the first man to properly fix onto the rhythms of this ancient music the modern pulse of electric/urban/global guitars. CHARLES MUDEDE