Dumisani Maraire recordings: African Story-Songs, 1969

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Maraire, Dumisani
Title
Dumisani Maraire recordings: African Story-Songs
Dates
1969
Quantity
1 optical media  :  WD - 1 compact disc (digital, stereo); Duration: 00:45:24; additional copy of notes in doc file for 69-17.
Collection Number
2006005
Summary
Copy of commercial recording, "African Story-Songs Told and Sung by Abraham Dumisani Maraire", produced by the UW Ethnomusicology Archives and published by UW Press. Story-songs narrated by Dumisani Maraire, mbira master and storyteller.
Repository
University of Washington Ethnomusicology Archives
University of Washington
Ethnomusicology Archives
Box 353450
Seattle, WA
98195-3450
Telephone: 2065430974
ethnoarc@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

Access is restricted.

Languages
English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Abraham Dumisani "Dumi" Maraire (1944-1999) was a Zimbabwean musician and singer-songwriter known for his mastery of the mbira, a traditional instrument of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. In particular, he specialized in the form of mbira called nyunga nyunga.

Maraire was born in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and studied music from an early age. From 1968 to 1972, he taught at the University of Washington in Seattle, and later taught at The Evergreen State College in Olympia. In 1982 he returned to Zimbabwe to create an ethnomusicology program at the University of Zimbabwe. He then came back to Seattle and the University of Washington to teach and obtain his doctorate in ethnomusicology. He died in Zimbabwe in 1999 of a stroke.

Maraire is often credited as having introduced Zimbabwean music to North America, as well as cultivating the Zimbabwean music scene in the Pacific Northwest. His children, Chiwoniso Maraire and Tendai "Baba" Maraire are both musicians, the latter forming half of Seattle hip hop duo Shabazz Palaces.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

Full title: "African Story-Songs Told and Sung by Abraham Dumisani Maraire."

Contents: Chawe chidyo chem'chero. --Cheka, cheka makaiwa. --Dzoenda. --Tete dzambira. --Ngweru. --Zangaiwa chakatanga pano. --Imbgwa yangu machena. --Haiwa dzafa (story-songs from Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia)

Copy of commercial phonodisc recording compiled from UW recording sessions (see collection 69-17.1-5); Archives CD copy made by Cliff Sloane (removed some phonodisc noise).

Total duration: 45:24.

Documentation: Photo-copy of phonodisc notes by Robert Kauffman inserted in CD box

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Description Dates
2006005-0001
1 optical media : CD - unpublished; Tracks: 8
1969-07-17

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Children's stories, Shona
  • Ethnomusicology
  • Folk songs, Shona
  • Mbira
  • Shona
  • Shona--Africa--Southern Africa
  • Short stories, Shona
  • Songs, Shona

Geographical Names

  • Africa
  • Zimbabwe

Form or Genre Terms

  • Fiction
  • Sound Recordings
  • Stories