Music of Zambia
Encyclopedia
The music of Zambia
has a rich heritage which falls roughly into three categories: traditional, popular and Christian.
also exhibit traces of traditional music in the finger-picking style used by guitarists.
s, both stick-struck and hand-struck. Drums are essential for most traditional dances. Ngoma
is the generic central African term for drum but Zambian drums come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and purposes and have specific names depending on their tribal origins and functional roles. The budima drums of the Valley Tonga, for example, are used specifically for funeral ceremonies. Budima drums have a goblet shape and come in sizes ranging from large to small. One of the most interesting of drums is the so-called "lion drum" (Namalwa in Tonga) used at traditional funerals. This is a friction drum
which is not struck at all but which has a stick inserted through the drum head that is rubbed. The silimba is a large 17-note xylophone from Western Province.
Chordophone
s and aerophone
s are less common in traditional Zambian music but exist nonetheless. The Valley Tonga play instruments made from animal horns called nyeele. Nyeele are played using an interlocking technique with individual musicians each playing a single horn and interlocking with other musicians who have nyeele of different pitches. A chordophone called a kalumbu
was traditionally played by young men to signal their desire to marry. Called a 'musical bow' by ethnomusicologisits because of its bow shape, the kalumbu is struck by a stick. Like many other central African countries, Zambia once had a vibrant tradition of so-called "thumb pianos," each with a different name depending on tribal origins: the Tonga kankobela is one such thumb piano, the Mbunda "kathandi", the Lozi "kangombio", the Lunda "chisanzhi", the Nsenga "kalimba", etc.. Although the use of traditional instruments has declined in recent years, they can still be heard in rural areas of Zambia.
Recordings of traditional Zambian music were made in the mid-twentieth century by Hugh Tracey
and Arthur Morris Jones
, both well-known ethnomusicologists of African music. Tracey recorded all over Zambia in the 1950s, but also specifically recorded in the Zambezi Valley in 1958 at the request of anthropologist Elizabeth Colson before the creation of the Kariba Dam
and Jones did his at Mapanza in Zambia's Southern Province
. Catholic missionaries, J. J. Corbeil and Frank Wafer have also contributed to our knowledge of traditional Zambian music. Father Corbeil collected and documented the instrumental tradition of the Bemba in Northeastern Zambia. Frank Wafer, a Jesuit priest located at Chikuni, has collected and preserved Batonga music. A community radio station dedicated to promoting Batonga music and culture is also part of the Chikuni Mission Station. They organize an annual festival of Batonga music which attracts as many as 10,000 visitors according to the organizers. Recent ethnomusicological work has been done by native Zambians such as Mwesa Isaiah Mapoma
, Joseph Ng'andu, John Anderson Mwesa and others. Recent field recordings made by native Zambian Michael Baird in Southern Province have been released on his SWP label.
The northern, copper-producing area of Zambia was known for singers like John Lushi, William Mapulanga and Stephen Tsotsi Kasumali. Their guitar-based music grew gradually into Zam-rock
, which used mostly English lyrics in rock songs. Bands included the Machine-Gunners and Musi-o-tunya. The most popular band in Zambian history soon emerged, Jaggari Chanda's Great Witch.
In the late 1970s, President Kenneth Kaunda
ordered that 95% of the music on the radio had to be Zambian. He hoped to encourage the formation of a Zambian national identity. Rather than using their folk roots, however, Zambians attempted to become pop stars. By the mid-1980s, the result was kalindula
music. Bands included the Masasu Band, Serenje Kalindula and Junior Mulemena Boys. Amayenge
is considered one of the best kalindula bands of the past twenty years. An annual concert of traditional bands (not just kalindula) was recently begun by the Chikuni Radio station in Chikuni in the Southern Province. Two of the most popular bands from that festival are Green Mamba
and Mashombe Blue Jeans
. In addition, artists such as Alfred Chisala Kalusha Jr. based their compositions on "Imfukutu" - Bemba folk music.
In the 1990s, economic problems caused the collapse of the Zambian music industry. Unfettered by rules promoting Zambian music, the airwaves were covered with imported ragga
and reggae
from Jamaica and hip hop
and R&B from the United States.
The most successful record label currently operating in Zambia is Mondo Music Corporation
in Lusaka. Their stable of artists includes J.K., Danny, Shatel, and Black Muntu. Sound clips of each of these groups can be heard at their website (see below). The Zambian entertainment industry recognizes popular musicians such as these at its annual Ngoma Awards. The Ngoma Awards amount to a Zambian version of the all-Africa Kora Awards
. At the moment K'Millian is a very popular artist.
A unique hybrid form of Zambian music is found in the so-called "banjo" tradition. The Zambian "banjo" is essentially a homemade guitar. A wide variety of such instruments can be found in different sizes and with varying numbers of strings. Most are played using a two or three finger picking style and the tuning of each instrument is unique to that instrument. The body is made in various shapes from wood or sometimes tin cans, and the strings or 'wires' often come from disgarded radial tires. Zambian banjos are used in kalindula
bands throughout Zambia.
, some from so-called "contemporary Christian music
" from the United States, and some from Zambian popular idioms. The use of electronic synthesizers and guitars has also made its way into the church. The flow of influence between church music and the popular realm can also be heard in recordings by groups such as The Glorious Band, Zambian Acapella, and Glorious Hosanna Band.
The influence of Euro-American hymnody is also evident in the music of many Zambian congregations. Hymns from British and American hymnals continue to be part of the musical fabric of many churches, and many harmonic practices are derived from Western hymn influences. Among the Seventh-day Adventist Church
, a unique system of notation called Tonic Sol-fa
is used to transmit hymns. Invented by John Curwen
, the system was imported into Africa by the British in the nineteenth century. The Heritage Singers Choir
and Heritage Brothers of the SDA church helped popularise this form of harmonious music.
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
has a rich heritage which falls roughly into three categories: traditional, popular and Christian.
Traditional music
Traditional Zambian music is rooted in the beliefs and practices of Zambia's various ethnic groups and has suffered some decline in the last three decades. Traditional Zambian music once had clear ritual purposes or was an expression of the social fabric of the culture. Songs were used to teach, to heal, to appeal to spirits, and for mere enjoyment. Despite the decline of traditional music, its influences can still be heard in many of today's Zambian musical forms. The ubiquitous African "call-and-response" can be heard in almost every Zambian song no matter what the style. Traditional drum rhythms and polymeters are evident in many different kinds of Zambian music. Contemporary popular forms such as Zambian KalindulaKalindula
Kalindula is a kind of bass guitar which gives its name to a style of popular music in southern-central Africa. It originated in the late 20th century and is popular in Zambia and is also found in Malawi and Zimbabwe. Some people claim it originated in the Democratic Republic of Congo but this...
also exhibit traces of traditional music in the finger-picking style used by guitarists.
Instruments
Traditional Zambian instruments include a variety of membranophoneMembranophone
A membranophone is any musical instrument which produces sound primarily by way of a vibrating stretched membrane. It is one of the four main divisions of instruments in the original Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification....
s, both stick-struck and hand-struck. Drums are essential for most traditional dances. Ngoma
Ngoma
Ngoma, Zambia is the only settlement in the south of Kafue National Park. It is a short way south of Itezhi-Tezhi Dam. Ngoma is the home of the head warden for the south half of the park, and for around 200 game wardens and their families employed by ZAWA...
is the generic central African term for drum but Zambian drums come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and purposes and have specific names depending on their tribal origins and functional roles. The budima drums of the Valley Tonga, for example, are used specifically for funeral ceremonies. Budima drums have a goblet shape and come in sizes ranging from large to small. One of the most interesting of drums is the so-called "lion drum" (Namalwa in Tonga) used at traditional funerals. This is a friction drum
Friction drum
Hornbostel-Sachs classification number 232.11-92A friction drum is a musical instrument found in various forms in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America...
which is not struck at all but which has a stick inserted through the drum head that is rubbed. The silimba is a large 17-note xylophone from Western Province.
Chordophone
Chordophone
A chordophone is any musical instrument that makes sound by way of a vibrating string or strings stretched between two points. It is one of the four main divisions of instruments in the original Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification....
s and aerophone
Aerophone
An aerophone is any musical instrument which produces sound primarily by causing a body of air to vibrate, without the use of strings or membranes, and without the vibration of the instrument itself adding considerably to the sound...
s are less common in traditional Zambian music but exist nonetheless. The Valley Tonga play instruments made from animal horns called nyeele. Nyeele are played using an interlocking technique with individual musicians each playing a single horn and interlocking with other musicians who have nyeele of different pitches. A chordophone called a kalumbu
Kalumbu
The kalumbu, or kalumbo, is a single metal-stringed bow that is played with a stick, which is played as a traditional instrument in Zimbabwe. A calabash gourd that is lashed onto the convex side of the bow acts as a resonating chamber. The kalumbu player manipulates the resonance of the instrument...
was traditionally played by young men to signal their desire to marry. Called a 'musical bow' by ethnomusicologisits because of its bow shape, the kalumbu is struck by a stick. Like many other central African countries, Zambia once had a vibrant tradition of so-called "thumb pianos," each with a different name depending on tribal origins: the Tonga kankobela is one such thumb piano, the Mbunda "kathandi", the Lozi "kangombio", the Lunda "chisanzhi", the Nsenga "kalimba", etc.. Although the use of traditional instruments has declined in recent years, they can still be heard in rural areas of Zambia.
Recordings of traditional Zambian music were made in the mid-twentieth century by Hugh Tracey
Hugh Tracey
Hugh Tracey was an important twentieth century ethnomusicologist. He and his wife collected and archived music from Southern and Central Africa. He began making field recordings of music in the early 20's, through the 70's....
and Arthur Morris Jones
Arthur Morris Jones
Arthur Morris Jones , was a missionary and musicologist who worked in Zambia during the early 20th century. He was stationed at St Mark's School in Mapanza in the Southern Province of present-day Zambia . He is best known for his ethnomusicological work, particularly his two-volume Studies in...
, both well-known ethnomusicologists of African music. Tracey recorded all over Zambia in the 1950s, but also specifically recorded in the Zambezi Valley in 1958 at the request of anthropologist Elizabeth Colson before the creation of the Kariba Dam
Kariba Dam
The Kariba Dam is a hydroelectric dam in the Kariba Gorge of the Zambezi river basin between Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is one of the largest dams in the world, standing tall and long.- Construction :...
and Jones did his at Mapanza in Zambia's Southern Province
Southern Province, Zambia
Southern Province is one of Zambia's nine provinces, and home to Zambia's premier tourist attraction, Mosi-oa-Tunya , shared with Zimbabwe...
. Catholic missionaries, J. J. Corbeil and Frank Wafer have also contributed to our knowledge of traditional Zambian music. Father Corbeil collected and documented the instrumental tradition of the Bemba in Northeastern Zambia. Frank Wafer, a Jesuit priest located at Chikuni, has collected and preserved Batonga music. A community radio station dedicated to promoting Batonga music and culture is also part of the Chikuni Mission Station. They organize an annual festival of Batonga music which attracts as many as 10,000 visitors according to the organizers. Recent ethnomusicological work has been done by native Zambians such as Mwesa Isaiah Mapoma
Mwesa Isaiah Mapoma
Mwesa Isaiah Mapoma is one of Zambia's best-known living ethnomusicologists. He received his ethnomusicological training from University of California, Los Angeles . His dissertation research focused on the royal musicians of the Bemba people in Zambia's Luapula province...
, Joseph Ng'andu, John Anderson Mwesa and others. Recent field recordings made by native Zambian Michael Baird in Southern Province have been released on his SWP label.
Popular music
After independence in 1964, the most important source of popular music was the Zambia Broadcasting Service and affiliated bands like Lusaka Radio Band who soon changed their name to The Big Gold Six. Record companies soon formed, with most recordings made at Peter Msungilo's DB Studios in Lusaka, and records pressed in Ndola by the Teal Record Company.The northern, copper-producing area of Zambia was known for singers like John Lushi, William Mapulanga and Stephen Tsotsi Kasumali. Their guitar-based music grew gradually into Zam-rock
Zam-rock
Zam-rock emerged in the 1970's as a combination of Jimi Hendrix's psychedelic rock and James Brown's funk. Rikki Ililonga & Musi-O-Tunya are generally credited as the creators of this music genre...
, which used mostly English lyrics in rock songs. Bands included the Machine-Gunners and Musi-o-tunya. The most popular band in Zambian history soon emerged, Jaggari Chanda's Great Witch.
In the late 1970s, President Kenneth Kaunda
Kenneth Kaunda
Kenneth David Kaunda, known as KK, served as the first President of Zambia, from 1964 to 1991.-Early life:Kaunda was the youngest of eight children. He was born at Lubwa Mission in Chinsali, Northern Province of Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia...
ordered that 95% of the music on the radio had to be Zambian. He hoped to encourage the formation of a Zambian national identity. Rather than using their folk roots, however, Zambians attempted to become pop stars. By the mid-1980s, the result was kalindula
Kalindula
Kalindula is a kind of bass guitar which gives its name to a style of popular music in southern-central Africa. It originated in the late 20th century and is popular in Zambia and is also found in Malawi and Zimbabwe. Some people claim it originated in the Democratic Republic of Congo but this...
music. Bands included the Masasu Band, Serenje Kalindula and Junior Mulemena Boys. Amayenge
Amayenge
Amayenge is the name of a popular Zambian music group. Started by Kris Chali in 1978 in Choma, the band was originally called New Crossbones. The musical style of the group is called kalindula, a distinctive Zambian popular style with traditional African roots. Chali died 30 May 2003, but the...
is considered one of the best kalindula bands of the past twenty years. An annual concert of traditional bands (not just kalindula) was recently begun by the Chikuni Radio station in Chikuni in the Southern Province. Two of the most popular bands from that festival are Green Mamba
Green mamba
Green mamba may refer to:* Eastern green mamba* Western green mamba...
and Mashombe Blue Jeans
Mashombe Blue Jeans
Mashombe Blue Jeans is one of a number of kalindula ensembles from the Southern Province of Zambia. Like other kalindula groups, they sing and play a style of Zambian music that blends traditional with modern musical materials....
. In addition, artists such as Alfred Chisala Kalusha Jr. based their compositions on "Imfukutu" - Bemba folk music.
In the 1990s, economic problems caused the collapse of the Zambian music industry. Unfettered by rules promoting Zambian music, the airwaves were covered with imported ragga
Ragga
-Origins:Ragga originated in Jamaica during the 1980s, at the same time that electronic dance music's popularity was increasing globally. One of the reasons for ragga's swift propagation is that it is generally easier and less expensive to produce than reggae performed on traditional musical...
and reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
from Jamaica and hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
and R&B from the United States.
The most successful record label currently operating in Zambia is Mondo Music Corporation
Mondo Music Corporation
Mondo Music Corporation is a record label in Lusaka that produces recordings by some of Zambia's most popular musicians including Danny, K'Millian Exile, JK, Shatel, Nathan Nyirenda, Jojo Mwangaza, Lilly T....
in Lusaka. Their stable of artists includes J.K., Danny, Shatel, and Black Muntu. Sound clips of each of these groups can be heard at their website (see below). The Zambian entertainment industry recognizes popular musicians such as these at its annual Ngoma Awards. The Ngoma Awards amount to a Zambian version of the all-Africa Kora Awards
Kora Awards
The Kora Awards are music awards given annually for musical achievement in sub-Saharan Africa. Founded in 1994 by Ernest Adjovi, they are comparable to the American Grammy Awards in intent...
. At the moment K'Millian is a very popular artist.
A unique hybrid form of Zambian music is found in the so-called "banjo" tradition. The Zambian "banjo" is essentially a homemade guitar. A wide variety of such instruments can be found in different sizes and with varying numbers of strings. Most are played using a two or three finger picking style and the tuning of each instrument is unique to that instrument. The body is made in various shapes from wood or sometimes tin cans, and the strings or 'wires' often come from disgarded radial tires. Zambian banjos are used in kalindula
Kalindula
Kalindula is a kind of bass guitar which gives its name to a style of popular music in southern-central Africa. It originated in the late 20th century and is popular in Zambia and is also found in Malawi and Zimbabwe. Some people claim it originated in the Democratic Republic of Congo but this...
bands throughout Zambia.
Christian music
Popular influences can also be heard in the newer repertory, some of which is borrowed from urban contemporary gospelUrban contemporary gospel
Traditional black gospel is music that is written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music...
, some from so-called "contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...
" from the United States, and some from Zambian popular idioms. The use of electronic synthesizers and guitars has also made its way into the church. The flow of influence between church music and the popular realm can also be heard in recordings by groups such as The Glorious Band, Zambian Acapella, and Glorious Hosanna Band.
The influence of Euro-American hymnody is also evident in the music of many Zambian congregations. Hymns from British and American hymnals continue to be part of the musical fabric of many churches, and many harmonic practices are derived from Western hymn influences. Among the Seventh-day Adventist Church
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
, a unique system of notation called Tonic Sol-fa
Tonic Sol-fa
Tonic Sol-fa is an all-male a cappella quartet from the Minneapolis-St. Paul region. With a largely pop-music-oriented repertoire, their CDs have sold over 1,000,000 copies, and the group has toured throughout the US and abroad.-History:...
is used to transmit hymns. Invented by John Curwen
John Curwen
Reverend John Curwen was an English Congregationalist minister, and founder of the Tonic sol-fa system of music education. He was educated at Wymondley College and University College London.-Tonic sol-fa:...
, the system was imported into Africa by the British in the nineteenth century. The Heritage Singers Choir
and Heritage Brothers of the SDA church helped popularise this form of harmonious music.
Recordings
- Brown, Ernest. Songs of the Spirits: The Royal Music of the Nkoya of Zambia. Lusaka, Zambia: University of Zambia Institute for African Studies, 1976.
- Baird, Michael. Batonga across the Waters. Utrecht, The Netherlands: SWP Records, 1997.
- ---. Zambia Roadside Music from Southern Province. Utrecht, The Netherlands: SWP Records, 2003.
- Daddy, Zemus. Chibaba. Lusaka, Zambia: Mondo Music Corp., 1999.
- Guitar Songs from Tanzania, Zambia & Zaire. Tivloi, N.Y.: Original Music, 1982.
- Hosanna Gospel Band. Lesa Tupepa. Lusaka, Zambia: Mondo Music Corp., 2004.
- J, K. JK. Lusaka, Zambia: Mondo Music Corp., 2001.
- Shoprite Zambia Hit Parade. Lusaka, Zambia: Mondo Music Corp., 2001.
- Tracey, Hugh. "Kalimba & Kalumbu Songs, Northern Rhodesia Zambia, 1952 & 1957: Lala, Tonga, Lozi, Mbunda, Bemba, Lunda." Historical recordings / by Hugh Tracey. Utrecht, The Netherlands: SWP Records, 1998. Produced and remastered by Michael Baird.
- Zambian Acapella. Zambian Acapella. Corsicana, Tex.: Paradox Music, 1993.
- Baird, Michael. "The Kankobela of the Batonga Vol. 1." Utrecht, The Netherlands: SWP Records 2008
See also
- List of African musicians
- musicians Zambian Music Portal
External links
- National Arts Council of Zambia
- Desh
- Chikuni Radio
- UKZAMBIANS - Zambian Music profiles and videos
- Zambian Music & Entertainment Website
- Zambian musicians
- Ayers Studios
- Mondo Music
- International Library of African Music
- Visit Zambia Campaign
- Zambian Music Videos
- SWP Records