i’m a novice mbira player but haven’t played any on my mbiras in a long time – i miss playing. i’ve loved this instrument since i first heard it years ago. it’s amazing.
In Shona music, the mbira dzavadzimu (“voice of the ancestors”, national instrument of Zimbabwe) is a musical instrument that has been played by the Shona people of Zimbabwe for thousands of years. The mbira dzavadzimu is frequently played at religious ceremonies and social gatherings called mabira (sing. “bira”). (from wikipedia)
Forward Kwenda playing here. He has some CDs available, and they are all GOOD!
Easiest to get is “Svikiro: Meditations from a Mbira Master”, available most places. It is superb.
For a deeper trawl into this man’s music, try http://www.mbira.org, and look for “CDs for sale”. Erica Azim, who runs that site, has recorded Forward Kwenda over many years, and has maybe 40 recordings of him available mail oreder & download. She also has many many more mbira recordings there. Her ‘label’ is not-for-profit, and money does get to the artists