Summer Vibes
Here's a little look into our May bank holiday show at Summer Vibes in Eltham.
Marimba & Mbira Music From Southern Africa
Otto Gumaelius is a London based, Botswana raised, performing artist & teacher of southern African folk music on the marimba.
Here's a little look into our May bank holiday show at Summer Vibes in Eltham.
I'm very excited to be two weeks away from the launch of Taste of Southern Africa Cultural Arts Festival on October 21st. This two day festival is aimed at sharing the cultural arts of southern Africa with the UK during Black History Month.
It'll be a great opportunity to try out something new, make new friends, and share in the colourful culture of southern Africa.
We've got a great line up of dance and music workshops and a fantastic concert to round off the day.
Tickets are available from: www.tasteofsouthernafrica.com/tickets
South African Diaspora UK hosted a lovely get together in Wimbledon Park this past weekend to mark South African Heritage Day, also known as Braai Day. I had the honour of taking part and got to give a small performance with my niece, after which I set up my marimbas on the side and let the kids have a go too.
Afrotake Media put the following short video together to cover some of the day's events:
Gandanga is a tune that was sung by the guerrilla combatants during the independence struggle from the illegal, racist government of Ian Smith, in what was then called Rhodesia. Songs like these would have been sung during the night time when the combatants sought refuge in the various villages. Very tongue-in-cheek, the combatants sing that they cannot be fed okra, because otherwise they will become ill or go insane. They of course want to be fed meat! After all, they are out fighting for the freedom of their people!
Some commentators draw parallels to modern day politics, where far too often political leaders think they are justified in their demands for things like huge pay cheques because they claim to be serving the people. Perhaps this is why Chiwoniso Maraire sang in her beautiful song Rebel Woman, "there will be no compensation, it was of your free will, that you stood on the front line. Rebel woman, these are the rules of war. Remember that you fought for your people, and all the freedom's been hard won, it's been so hard won. But as you weep rebel woman, remember you were strong".
It's a reminder of the harsh reality that when you stand up and fight for what you believe in, your ultimate reward lies in what you achieve for your people, rather than what your people will give you in return.
Gandanga haridye derere (Freedom fighters don't eat okra)
Mukoma rinorwara (Brother, it would make them ill)
Gandanga haridye derere (Freedom fighters don't eat okra)
Mukoma rinopenga (Brother, it would make them crazy)
Otto and The Mutapa Calling is a lively London based marimba band playing energetic, joyful music from Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe, including folk songs, original songs and popular southern African covers. The band's set-up includes soprano, tenor and baritone marimbas, mbira, hosho, drumming and singing, with both traditional and contemporary dances. The marimba band’s sound is full of energy and pulsating rhythms - and the band’s music shares the rich cultures, histories and stories of the people of southern Africa.
www.ottogumaelius.com
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Congratulations to Louisa & Batsetswe on their union! It was a great pleasure entertaining their guests up in Chesterfield last night, and getting to share a few wedding songs from Botswana!
The Southbank is home to one of the greatest African festivals London has to offer - Africa Utopia! It's always a marvelous weekend of all things Africa - from food to fashion!
This year I had the great honour of getting to share my music at Africa Utopia. We performed a 45 minute set of marimba songs on the Sounds Under the Bridge stage. I went along with two of my Wednesday evening students, Susannah and Graham, who played on tenor and baritone marimba respectively, and my niece Sophia on drumkit.
Our set was made up of Shona and Tswana folk songs, as well as some of my own songs, such as Kenekelekae (Where Was I), and the music went down a treat. Here's a short clip of our final song of our set, Taive Gumi ne Vaviri (We Were Twelve).
The 21st of June is World Music Day - and it's a day that's spectacularly celebrated in Paris as musicians flood the streets to share their music with the city. In France, the day goes by the name Fête de la Musique, and this year it was an absolute pleasure to join forces with ex Zimba Marimba Band musician, Fredrik Andersson, who has set up a marimba business in Paris called Kudzana Marimba. Anna Wolanska and Sophie Nilsson, also former Zimba Marimba Band members, came over as well from Sweden, and together we refreshed and revitalised all the old songs we used to play.
On the Wednesday of Fête de la Musique we did a total of three performance-workshop slots; all in the bustling Parisian suburb of Clichy. Our first slot was at Place des Martyrs, where we got to share our music with many young children who were eager to try it out themselves.
We then packed up and headed to Café KAMU, where we did an hour slot and a short workshop, which at one point had to be paused as we came under attack by an onslaught of water guns! The cool water being squirted into the air would have otherwise been a lovely carefree moment, had we not had wooden instruments in front of us which are sensitive to water! But after a few quick wipe downs we were back on track!
After our brief stop over at Café KAMU, we packed up and headed to our final stop for the day where we played our final set outside Café du Parc. We managed to draw quite a large crowd and everyone seemed to enjoy our southern African music!
We played a total of 7 hours and were quite glad to get home after an otherwise very successful day! We took it easy over the next two days and did a bit of sightseeing and hanging out. On our last night together in Paris we did one more show, at Le Coq Noir, a lovely African restaurant in Clichy.
Below you can see a short video of our set up at Le Coq Noir. In the video, we're performing Gandanga, a song from Zimbabwe about the freedom fighters of the independence struggle.
Our show at Le Coq Noir was the perfect end to a lovely week in Paris! Hopefully we'll be back next year to share more southern African marimba music!
For more information about marimba workshops in Paris, visit www.kudzanamarimba.com
I've just returned from a small town called Nesbyen in the Norwegian mountains with my colleague Beatrice Muzenda. We traveled there to collaborate on a music performance with Jimu Makurumbandi and his band, Dandemutande, at the final show of Kulturkrydde in Gol.
It has been quite an interesting week, mostly because it was the first time seeing a southern African musician take on the Kora, a west African instrument, and adapt some of our folk songs to it. Jimu's philosophy questions why we as Africans think that outside of our own cultures, it's only ever western / classical instruments we can learn. Why not learn another African instrument? I found this incredibly interesting - and it surely was a treat to be apart of his show.
We spent several focused, but relaxed, days preparing the repertoire before finally doing a full run through on the Sunday in preparation for the big show on Monday evening. We sang a mix of Shona folk songs as well as Jimu's own music. There was acapella singing, mbira, kora, marimba and drumming - and the audience seemed to thoroughly enjoy our performance.
Apart from the beautiful music we got to be a part of, the clean air and beautiful mountains were also an absolute treat! We went hiking up one of the mountains one evening, and didn't get back home till about 1am - at which point it still wasn't completely dark!
Norway was a really great experience and I look forward to my next visit!
The late Miriam Makeba blessed the world with so many beautiful songs. One of our all time favourites is Pata Pata, which we performed last night at Juju's Bar & Stage, with the lovely Tsungai Tsikirai on lead vocals.
Pata Pata is sung in isiXhosa, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, and the title means "Touch Touch". The song was originally recorded in South Africa in 1957 but was only released in 1967 whilst Miriam Makeba was living in exile in the United States of America.
The original lyrics in isiXhosa are as follows (with a rough explanation in English in brackets):
Saguquka sathi 'bheka' (As we danced we said "Look!")
Nants’ iPata Pata (It's the Pata Pata)
Saguquka sathi 'bheka' (As we danced we said "Look!")
Nants’ iPata Pata (It's the Pata Pata)
Yiyo mama, yiyo mama (This one, mama; This one, mama)
Nants’ iPata Pata (It's the Pata Pata)
Yiyo mama, yiyo mama (This one, mama; This one, mama)
Nants’ iPata Pata (It's the Pata Pata)
Pata Pata is the name of the dance
We do down Johannesburg way
And everybody starts to move
As soon as Pata Pata starts to play
Saguquka sathi 'bheka' (As we danced we said "Look!")
Nants’ iPata Pata (It's the Pata Pata)
Saguquka sathi 'bheka' (As we danced we said "Look!")
Nants’ iPata Pata (It's the Pata Pata)
iyo mama, yiyo mama (This one, mama; This one, mama)
Nants’ iPata Pata (It's the Pata Pata)
Yiyo mama, yiyo mama (This one, mama; This one, mama)
Nants’ iPata Pata (It's the Pata Pata)
Every Friday and Saturday Night
It's Pata Pata time
The dance keeps going all night long
Til' the morning sun begins to shine
We are a rhythmic world-music African marimba band, based in the United Kingdom, playing folk music from Zimbabwe, South Africa and Botswana.
We are available for hire for all types of private and corporate events, including weddings, private parties, fundraisers, charity events, business networking events, conferences, festivals and concerts. Workshops are also available in marimba, mbira, drumming, singing, and African dance.
For bookings and enquiries, contact us on +44 (0)751 550 8934.
Last year our marimba duo had the honour of being part of the world premier of Shabnam Shabazi's performance installation, Terra Nullius, commissioned by Spill for The Spill Festival of Performance - an international festival of live art, activism and performance presenting the work of exceptional artists from around the globe.
Here's a lovely video by the Pacitti Company showing highlights from the evening.
I've spent the past two days up in Ipswich doing final preparations for, and performing in, this year's Spill Festival.
Our marimba duo formed one of several elements in the performance installation, Terra Nullius, curated by Shabnam Shabazi and presented inside the beautiful Ipswich museum.
We performed a non-stop 2 hour set which included marimba and mbira music - with both traditional songs as well as original compositions.
We have just returned from a lovely couple of days in the Netherlands where we performed at the opening of Biennale Gelderland in the beautiful cultural centre, Rozet, in the heart of Arnhem.
We packed our marimbas in the back of a 9-seater mini bus on Thursday afternoon and headed for the Euro tunnel. 8 hours later we arrived in Arnhem with great thanks to our chauffeur for the journey, Paul Noels - who was also in the line up of performers for the following day.
We checked into our lovely bed and breakfast, and got what sleep we could before breakfast that morning. Later that afternoon we were picked up and headed to Rozet, to soundcheck and await the big opening that evening.
We went on at 7pm, and delivered an energetic set of Zimbabwean traditional songs - including Mugara Ndega, Manhanga Kutapira, Chemutengure and Zvichapera, as well as popular South African song, Pata Pata, by Miriam Makeba.
After the show, we were invited to a jam session in the restaurant in Rozet alongside all the other acts that had been invited to perform at the opening. This was great fun! We were joined by Vimbai Zimuto, a fantastic Zimbabwean musician who is based in the Netherlands.
Here's one of the songs we performed - Chemutengure - featuring Vimbai Zimuto.
Otto and The Mutapa Calling is a lively London based marimba band playing energetic, joyful music from Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe, including folk songs, original songs and popular southern African covers. The band's set-up includes soprano, tenor and baritone marimbas, mbira, hosho, drumming and singing, with both traditional and contemporary dances. The marimba band’s sound is full of energy and pulsating rhythms - and their music shares the rich cultures, histories and stories of the people of southern Africa. Otto and The Mutapa Calling is a unique and colourful experience and is the only active professional marimba band of its kind in the United Kingdom.
www.ottogumaelius.com
Like on Facebook here
Follow on Instagram here
Listen on Spotify here
Watch on YouTube here
2016 marks the 50th anniversary of the Nottinghill Carnival - Europe's largest street party - and what an honour it was to be part of the celebrations, performing with Flame Lily Arts on the World Music Stage, hosted and sponsored by the legendary Levi Roots.
The acts on stage were mostly Caribbean, so it was extra special getting to represent southern Africa at such a huge gathering. We performed several southern African classics, through acapella singing in Mbube style, as well as with instrumental accompaniment on Zimbabwean marimbas and djembes.
Below are a few pics from the day.
We hope to be back at the carnival again next year!
Flame Lily Arts is a UK-based African performing arts company. The group specialises in Ndebele and Zulu dances, accompanied by harmonious Mbube style singing, with drumming and marimba accompaniment. The group's members come primarily from Zimbabwe, South Africa and Botswana, and are proud cultural ambassadors of southern Africa.
www.flamelilyarts.com
Otto and The Mutapa Calling is a lively London based marimba band playing energetic, joyful music from Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe, including folk songs, original songs and popular southern African covers. The band's set-up includes soprano, tenor and baritone marimbas, mbira, hosho, drumming and singing, with both traditional and contemporary dances. The marimba band’s sound is full of energy and pulsating rhythms - and their music shares the rich cultures, histories and stories of the people of southern Africa. Otto and The Mutapa Calling is a unique and colourful experience and is the only active professional marimba band of its kind in the United Kingdom.
www.ottogumaelius.com
Like on Facebook here
Follow on Instagram here
Listen on Spotify here
Watch on YouTube here
Here are some pictures and videos from our show last night at the Migrant Business Show.
Our marimba band was invited to provide some southern African marimba entertainment at Fego Caffe in aid of a Save The Rhino fundraising initiative. We put together a repertoire of South African songs to cover with vocals and drumming.
Our set list ended up including songs by the late Miriam Makeba (Pata Pata / Click Song), the late Brenda Fassie (Weekend Special), Mahotella Queens (Thoko) and Solomon Linda (Mbube / The Lion Sleeps Tonight), as well as some of the more traditional Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu repertoire, including the wedding song uMakoti Ngowethu, a song celebrating the new bride and announcing her acceptance into the family; Mancube, a song about a woman who is using witchcraft; and Majola, a song used in traditional rituals imploring the ancestors to reveal themselves to help resolve matters within the family.
Here's a little showreel from the evening at Fego Caffe:
Otto and The Mutapa Calling is a lively London based marimba band playing energetic, joyful music from Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe, including folk songs, original songs and popular southern African covers. The band's set-up includes soprano, tenor and baritone marimbas, mbira, hosho, drumming and singing, with both traditional and contemporary dances. The marimba band’s sound is full of energy and pulsating rhythms - and their music shares the rich cultures, histories and stories of the people of southern Africa. Otto and The Mutapa Calling is a unique and colourful experience and is the only active professional marimba band of its kind in the United Kingdom.
www.ottogumaelius.com
Like on Facebook here
Follow on Instagram here
Listen on Spotify here
Watch on YouTube here
We had a great bank holiday Monday at Spitalfields performing some of our tunes at Pop Up Africa's market event - Africa at Spitalfields. Here are some pictures from the event. They're not the best quality - but I thought I'd share them anyways!
The 27th of April, 1994, was the day the first democratic election was held in South Africa. Ever since, it's been a day of celebration, as South Africans mark the liberation of their country and its people from a long period of colonialism and apartheid.
We were really pleased to have been invited to perform at Acklam Village Market to commemorate Freedom Day with the South African community in London.
We gave the audience two sets of music. The first was a more traditional, drumming set, with singing and dancing, and included songs like Shosholoza and liberation struggle song, Oliver Tambo Theta NoBotha.
We then brought in the marimbas for our second set, which really got the crowd going. We covered Miriam Makeba, Brenda Fassie, Mahotella Queens and Beatenberg to name a few. The tunes went down a huge treat!
Here are some videos from the night.
If you wish to read more on South Africa Freedom Day and what it's all about, you can find some more information here.
Otto and The Mutapa Calling is a lively London based marimba band playing energetic, joyful music from Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe, including folk songs, original songs and popular southern African covers. The band's set-up includes soprano, tenor and baritone marimbas, mbira, hosho, drumming and singing, with both traditional and contemporary dances. The marimba band’s sound is full of energy and pulsating rhythms - and their music shares the rich cultures, histories and stories of the people of southern Africa. Otto and The Mutapa Calling is a unique and colourful experience and is the only active professional marimba band of its kind in the United Kingdom.
www.ottogumaelius.com
Like on Facebook here
Follow on Instagram here
Listen on Spotify here
Watch on YouTube here