MALAWI – Musiker Aus Malawi / Südliches Malawi – Museum Collection Berlin MC15

MALAWI
Musiker Aus Malawi / Südliches Malawi – Museum Collection Berlin MC15 – recorded by Gerhard Kubik in 1967, 1983 and 1984 (2 LPs)

Malawi is a landlocked country in southeastern Africa bordered by Tanzania, Zambia and Mozambique. This unique double album recorded by Gerhard Kubik in 1967 and 1983-1984 and published by the distinguished Museum Collection Berlin, is an anthology of traditional and folk music from three regions of southern Malawi: the lower Shire River area; the eastern shore of Lake Malawi and the Zomba Plateau; and the Shire Highlands and the mountain areas of Mwanza. 

 

The music showcased in this collection features a variety of instruments, including xylophones (A1, A2, A3, C1, C2, C3), malimba lamellophones (A5, A6, B5), idiophones (D3), zithers (A4, B4, B6, B7, B8, B9, C4, C5, D1, D2), vocal music (B1, B2, B3, D4), a mouth bow (D5), an accordion (C6, C7), and neo-traditional Kwela street music from southern Africa by the renowned Kachamba Brothers singing and playing pennywhistle flutes, guitars and shakers (D6, D7, D8).

 

Le Malawi est un pays enclavé du sud-est de l'Afrique, bordé par la Tanzanie, la Zambie et le Mozambique. Ce double album, enregistré par Gerhard Kubik en 1967 et 1983-1984, puis publié par la prestigieuse Museum Collection Berlin, est une anthologie de la musique traditionnelle et folklorique de trois régions du sud du Malawi : la région en amont de la rivière Shire; la rive orientale du lac Malawi et le plateau de Zomba; ainsi que les hauts plateaux de Shire et les zones montagneuses de Mwanza. 

 

La musique présentée dans cette collection fait appel à une grande variété d'instruments, notamment des xylophones (A1, A2, A3, C1, C2, C3), des lamellophones malimba (A5, A6, B5), des idiophones (D3), des cithares (A4, B4, B6, B7, B8, B9, C4, C5, D1, D2), de la musique vocale (B1, B2, B4, D4), un arc à bouche (D5), de l'accordéon (C6, C7) et de la musique de rue Kwela d'Afrique australe, jouée par les célèbres frères Kachamba avec des flûtes pennywhistle, des guitares et des shakers (D6, D7, D8).

THE LOWER SHIRE RIVER AREA 
The Sena musical style on Side A and Side B (1-5) and the Mang’anja style on Side B (6-9):

 

A1 – Kukapanda Mbale Kumaliza

A2 – Makang'ombe

Eric Edison, ulimba xylophone ensemble; recorded in Mpomba, Nsanje District, March 1967.

 

A3 – Panagona Diminga

Johnny Zuze, valimba xylophone ensemble; recorded in Ntoma Mbini, Nsanje District, May 1967.

 

A4 – Wachelera Mabasa

Luka Motokale, bangwe board zither; recorded in Nsanje, March 1967.

 

A5 – Ntalimba

A6 – Kwa Nthole

Dayi Masitine, malimba lamellophone; recorded in Ziwe-Ziwe, Nsanje District, May 1967.

 

B1 – Chigolingo vocal technique used during the pounding of maize

B2 – Chigolingo jodel song used during the pounding of maize

Fainesi; recorded in Ntoma Mbini, Nsanje District, May 1967.

 

B3 – Ntano polyphonic song

Mahomed Kawonza; recorded in Chipwembwe, near Nsanje, March 1967.

 

B4 – Bandera  

Chamboko Chinamulungu, bangwe board zither; recorded near the Mozambique border, Nsanje District, May 1967.

 

B5 – Kabutera

Dzingo Chiningamphale, malimba lamellophone; recorded in Chambuluka, Nsanje District, June 1967.

 

B6 – Ndanyani 

B7 – Kulankhula-Lankhula Kwanuku

B8 – Kugwira Mikanda Kwina Ntidya...

B9 – Kwa ChaGoma

Limited Mfundo, bangwe board zither; recorded at Hetherwick House, Presbyterian Mission, Blantyre, March 1967.

 

THE EASTERN SHORE OF LAKE MALAWI & THE ZOMBA PLATEAU

Yao (Wayao) musician-composers (Side C):

 

C1 – Maguluve Kumala Imanga...

C2 – Kung'anda Kwa Anyamata

C3 – Ulendo Wa Kumigunda

Waisoni Msusa, mangolongondo xylophone school; recorded in Nkopiti, Mangochi District, July 1983.

 

C4 – Najiwa

Finlat Yona, sese flat-bar zither; recorded in Chiluwe, Zomba District, February 1984.

 

C5 – Untitled

Yona Nnema, sese flat-bar zither; recorded in Malonge, Zomba District, March 1984.

 

C6 – Siombela

C7 – M'bwiza

Jonas Chapola, accordion, M’bwiza music; recorded in Malamya, Mangochi District, August 1983.

 

THE SHIRE HIGHLANDS AND THE MOUNTAINS AREAS OF MWANZA

Mainly inhabited by the Maravi people, including the Chewa and Nyanja (Side D):

 

D1 – Wafa Nintima, Katalika

D2 – Sabwerna Edina

Mulimanthewe, bango board zither; recorded in Chakhumbira, Mwanza District, April 1967.

 

D3 – Sansi Music

Mulimanthewe, sansi idiophone; recorded in Chakhumbira, Mwanza District, April 1967.

 

D4 – Kangalile Nkanyanga

Nasibeko J. Kachamba, Nthano story song; recorded in Singano, Blantyre District, March 1967.

 

D5 – Nkangala Music

Emery, nkangala mouth bow; recorded in Singano, Blantyre District, October 1967.

 

D6 – Vula Matambo

Daniel J. Kachamba, hauyani ‘slide’ guitar; recorded in Blantyre, March 1967.

 

D7 – Anifa Love Me

D8 – Anifa Waiting For Me

Daniel J. Kachamba & his Brothers, recorded in Blantyre, March 1967.

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Gerhard Kubik (born 1934) is an Austrian music ethnologist who studied ethnology, musicology, and African languages at the University of Vienna. Since 1958, he has regularly traveled to Africa to conduct fieldwork and research, and has published over 300 articles and books on Africa and African Americans, particularly in Venezuela and Brazil. He has amassed the world's largest collection of African traditional music, with over 25,000 recordings archived at the Phonogrammarchiv Wien in Vienna. He also plays clarinet with a kwela jazz ensemble that has performed in Europe and Brazil.

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