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Ngoni frony
N’goni are west African rhythm harps. There are three main types, the djeli, the donso and the kamale. The donso and kamale n’goni are similar to the kora, only having less strings and being slightly different in construction.

The donso n’goni is the six string harp of the traditional hunter societies from the historic Wassoulou region of Mali, Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire. The word donso can be translated as hunting or hunter. For this reason the donso n’goni are also known as the hunters harp. Donso n’goni are ceremonial instruments, used by hunters to accompany traditional chanting and storytelling. They often have a shaker called a kesing kesing that is attached to the top of the instrument and vibrates when being played. Donso n’goni are played in ceremony together with the karagnan (also called kariyan or kassa kassa), a serrated metal tube that is scraped with a metal stick.

The kamale n’goni (pictured above) is a modern variation of the donso n’goni. Kamale can be translated as youth, so the kamale n’goni is said the be the harp of the new generation to play modern arrangements on, rather than the traditional compositions. Alata Brulaye is said to have first made this variation in the 1960’s by adding more strings to the donso n’goni. Structurally, that is the only significant difference between the donso and the kamale n’goni. Today kamale n’goni are usually made with ten, twelve or fourteen strings.

Both the donso and the kamale n’goni are made from a large gourd with a goat skin stretched over an opening in the top and fastened with brass taks on the sides. The bridge sits on top of the goat skin and connects the strings from the base of the n’goni to the stem where they are tuned. In West African countries, traditionally the stem of n’goni is made from a species of bamboo that is solid. Traditional strings are made from animal intestine and bound to the bamboo stem of the n’goni. Today plastic strings are most often used as well as a variety of types of wood for the neck together with guitar machine heads for tuning.

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yeshe04

Mbira
The Mbira ‘Dzavadzimu’ (directly translated as mbira of the ancestors) of the Zezuru group of the Shona people of Zimbabwe, Africa.
It consists of 22 to 28 metal keys mounted on a ‘gwariva’ (hardwood sound-board) made from the ‘mubvamaropa’ tree (Pterocarpus angolensis).
Although the metal keys were originally smelted directly from rock containing iron ore, now they maybe made from sofa springs, bicycle spokes, car seat springs, and other recycled steel materials. The mbira is usually placed inside a large calabash resonator (deze) to amplify it. A ‘mutsigo’ (stick) is used to wedge the mbira securely inside the ‘deze’. The mbira is played with the two thumbs stroking down and the right forefinger stroking up.
Either metal beads strung on a wire, or bottle tops or shells mounted on a metal plate, are placed on the lower portion of the mbira soundboard to add a buzz which varies from a soft hiss to a tambourine-like sound. Bottle tops or shells are also mounted on the deze to increase the buzz. The buzz is considered an essential part of the mbira sound, required to clear the mind of thoughts and worries so that the mbira music can fill the consciousness of the performers and listeners. The buzz adds depth and context to the clear tones of the mbira keys, and may be heard as whispering voices, singing, tapping, knocking, wind or rain.
Many different mbira tunings are used, according to personal preference. If the same sequence of keys is played, the music is considered to be the same mbira piece, even if played on instruments tuned with completely different intervals. For example, the ‘gandanga’ (outlaw) tuning, also known as ‘mavembe’ tuning, has a different interval relationship between keys than the more common ‘nyamaropa’ tuning. The pitch of an mbira is also a matter of personal preference, ranging from high to very deep. Each instrument has a range of three octaves, or slightly more.
Mbira and Healing
Mbira music has been used by the Shona people of Zimbabwe to heal physical and mental illness for more than a millennium. For the Shona, healing results from both the mbira’s sound and its power to summon ancestor spirits who influence the health of the living.
The Shona describe that, “when you listen to mbira, you are a spirit. Your thoughts and worries are gone and your body can heal”. The sound of mbira will affect you with or without your belief in its healing power.
The purifying, healing sound of mbira, which for a thousand years has been a sacred mystical music of the Shona people, is used in Zimbabwe to induce spirit possession trances, in traditional healing practices, for personal meditation, and in celebrations.
Mbira’s use in Shona Culture
Mbira(the name of both the instrument and the music) is mystical music which has been played for over a thousand years by certain tribes of the Shona people, a group which forms the vast majority of the population of Zimbabwe, and extends into Mozambique.
Mbira pervades all aspects of Shona culture, both sacred and secular. Its most important function is as a “telephone to the spirits”, used to contact both deceased ancestors and tribal guardians, at all-night ‘bira’ (pl. mapira) ceremonies. At these ceremonies, ‘vadzimu’ (spirits of family ancestors), ‘mhondoro’ (spirits of deceased chiefs) and ‘makombwe’ (the most powerful guardian spirits of the Shona) give guidance on family and community matters and exert power over weather and health.
Mbira is required to bring rain during drought, stop rain during floods, and bring clouds when crops are burned by the sun. It is also used to chase away harmful spirits, and to cure illnesses with or without a ‘n’anga’ (traditional diviner/herbalist).
Mbira is included in celebrations of all kinds, including weddings, installation of new chiefs, and, more recently, government events such as independence day and international conferences.
Mbira is also required at death ceremonies, and is played for a week following a chief’s death before the community is informed of his passing. At the ‘guva’ ceremony, approximately one year after a person’s physical death, mbira is used to welcome that individual’s spirit back to the community.
In previous centuries, court musicians played mbira for Shona kings and their diviners. Although the mbira was originally used in a limited number of Shona areas, today it is popular throughout Zimbabwe. mbira is desired for the general qualities it imparts: peaceful mind and strong life force. The Shona mbira is also rapidly becoming known around the world, due to tours by both traditional musicians and Zimbabwean electric bands which include the instrument.
During Zimbabwe’s colonial period (when it was known as Rhodesia), missionaries taught that mbira was evil, and the popularity of mbira in Zimbabwe declined. Since independence in 1980, mbira has enjoyed a resurgence of popularity.

 

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0059
Hailed by the Sydney Morning Herald as “Groundbreaking roots musician” and “Sublime ***** ” by the Montreal Metro, German born ‘genre bender’ Yeshe has explored all corners of the globe in developing a rich tapestry of sound and a vivid collage of musical culture. He embodies the musical nomad, drawing heavily from his African teachings and expressing his music with a sophisticated style and distinctly cosmopolitan flavour.

A chance meeting as a teenager, at his birthplace near Dusseldorf, with Mustapha Tettey Addy – a world renowned Ghanaian master drummer and ethnomusicologist – became the foundation for his musical evolution and the African sound which would feature so prominently in his music. Inspired by Addy, young Yeshe embarked on his first of many journeys living and studying in the villages and ghettos of West Africa and Zimbabwe.

Yeshe especially became interested in traditional African melodic instruments, in particular the ‘Mbira’ of the Shona people of Zimbabwe and the ‘Kamele Ngoni’ of the Bambara people of Burkina Faso (which both later became the centerpiece of his music), each time going straight to the source to immerse himself into the culture.

In the early 80s Yeshe met Canada’s most awarded blues artist Harry Manx and the pair have since collaborated and toured together with many different acts around the globe – Manx would have a tremendous and powerful influence on Yeshe’s future musical development, eventually inspiring his solo career.

It was after a tour late in 2003 that, with Harry Manx’s production guidance, they would record Yeshe’s début album entitled World Citizen (which charted and won multiple international awards), released through Manx’s Canadian-based label Dog My Cat Records. “Yeshe’s music will never go out of fashion, this kind of music will remain relevant for ages to come,” says Manx.

In 2011, Yeshe released his finest work to date in Roots & Wings, with the opening track ‘Peace Of Mind’ voted Number One in the World category of the esteemed Billboard World Song Contest. Progressive, evolving and rooted powerfully in the earth, Roots & Wings sees Yeshe continue to push cultural boundaries to find new sounds, new experiences and share simple messages of hope and peace.

Since the release of his sophomore solo release, Yeshe has truly come into his own and has been in high demand on the international circuit, most recently collaborating with Australian roots icon Xavier Rudd in Australia, North America and Europe and touring Canada and Australia as a featured guest on Harry Manx World Affairs tour, after co-writing two songs with Manx on his latest release “Om Suite Ohm”.