Malawi

In 2015 Dr. Evans made a side-trip from Ethiopia to Malaŵi to record music for High Water Records with the assistance of African music scholars Dr. Moya Aliya Malamusi and Prof. Dr. Gerhard Kubik, with whom Evans had been in contact for many years.  At Dr. Malamusi’s home in Chileka he recorded local guitarists, including Dr. Malamusi himself, playing and singing original compositions in a distinctive local style.  From there he and Dr. Malamusi, along with Zambian scholar Mose Yotamu, set out for the southernmost part of the country, where they recorded outstanding percussion groups of rattles and xylophones as well as a guitar-playing family.  This music has yet to be released by High Water or its licensees.

Chileka, Oct. 1, 2015, home of Dr. Moya Aliya Malamusi.  Christopher Gerald ("Khilizibe"), vocal and guitar.  Chichewa language.  Malawian soldiers serving in the King's African Rifles in World War 2 brought guitars back home and created a distinctive genre of new popular music that continues today. 
Chapilila village, Nsanje District, Oct. 3, 2015.  Nsanje District is in the far South of Malawi, wedged in between Moçambique on the East and West.  "Jealousy ndi Bivu Ulimba" group (means "jealousy is witchcraft").  Ulimba is the instrument, a 23-key, 3-player xylophone struck with rubber-tipped mallets.  They travel all over the country, playing for weddings, church meetings, political rallies, making of tombs, ceremonies for ancestral spirits, and other events.  Left: Joao Zuze, ulimba midrange and gake (board over a hole in the ground struck with a rubber padded mallet); Wilson Bizike, metal rattles made from cans.  Right: Emanuel Droma, ulimba high range (small keys); Migelo Antonio, ulimba low range (large keys).  The ulimba has under each key a gourd resonator with an opening covered with a page from the Bible acting as a vibrating membrane.  Chisena language.    

Video and Image Gallery:

Mazuwa village, Chilazu District, Oct. 4, 2015.  Left to right: Harrison Chalamanda; Cliff Chalamanda (vocal and guitar); their father Gidess Chalamanda, age 86 (a famous singer/guitarist).  Gidess has trained his sons to carry on the family musical tradition.  Their home is in the middle of a macadamia nut plantation.  Chichewa language. 
"Jealousy ndi Bivu" (Jealousy and Witchcraft) Ulimba (23-key xylophone).  Chapilila village, T. A. (traditional authority Malemya, Nsanje District, Malawi, Oct. 3, 2015.  See previous photo description.  Two unidentified boys practice on the high keys of the ulimba with rubber-padded mallets, one also playing the gaka (board over a hole in the ground).  Migelo Antonio (red shirt) joins them on the middle keys.  This video shows the learning process. 
Samala Moyo Band, Khungubwe village, Chikwawa District South, T. A. (traditional authority) Ngowe, Malawi, Oct. 2, 2015.  Chisena language.  The band was formed in 1993.  It performs for general entertainment, initiation ceremonies, and other social events.  Ulimba 25-key (of mulombwe or mbila wood) 3-player xylophone, with mponda gourd resonators and mtimbo beaters (rubber-headed from tires), pair of nkocho rattles, gata drum.  Enock Ofisi (yellow shirt), rattles; Jofilisi Arnold (boy), rattles; Andrade Ofisi, drum; Jofilisi Benito (red & white shirt), high (short) keys; Pedro Mpatuko (grey shirt), middle (medium) keys; Tokozani Limited (white shirt), low (large) keys; women and children dancers.  The tune is a version of the song "Nadfela Nchanga" ("I Have Died in the Bush").  
Chileka, Oct. 5, 2015, home of Dr. Moya Aliya Malamusi.  Daisi Mambuleki, age 48, with home made 5-string banjo.  Chichewa language.  The performer lives in Chemusa, Blantyre District.  He is a street musician, playing for tips.  Soldiers returning from World War 2 also brought banjos. 
Chileka, Oct. 6, 2015.  Dr. Moya Aliya Malamusi, guitar, at his home.  Dr. Malamusi is an anthropologist, lecturer, and musician/composer, who alternates between Vienna, Austria, and his native Malawi.  He was host, guide, and assistant to Dr. Evans in 2015.  Chichewa language. 
Kaudzu village, Nsanje District, T. A. (traditional authority) Ngabu, Malawi, Oct. 3, 2015.  Chimanganja language mixed with Chisena.  Grace Petrol (leader, dancer) with l2 ladies - 5 with chitsulumwe gourd rattles, the others hand-clapping; Lenadi White, kamango drum played with a single curved stick.  The dance and the musical genre are also called chitsulumwe.  It is performed for funerals, installation of a chief, and general entertainment.  The drum and the rattles call for the rain to come.  One of the songs points to the clouds and identifies the one that will bring rain.  The rainy season usually begins in November.  
Singano Village, Chileke, Malawi, home of Dr. Moya Aliya Malamusi, Oct. 4, 2015.  Prof. Dr. Gerhard Kubik (University of Vienna) and Dr. Moya Aliya Malamusi practicing on a xylophone they made on the model of an amadinda xylophone from Uganda.  Kubik has written extensively about the amadinda, which is performed by royal court musicians.  The compositions are learned by rote, and some of them date back three centuries.  Prof. Dr. Kubik, who began his reasearch in the 1950s, is the dean of Africanist ethnomusicologists, now age 88.  He trained Dr. Malamusi at the University of Vienna.  Both have done fieldwork in Uganda and many other parts of East Africa.  Kubik has lectured twice at The University of Memphis.  He and Dr. Malamusi invited me to Malawi in 2015. 

(All captions provided by Dr. David Evans)