Luangwa to Livingstone: Music from Zambia – Chikunda, Nsenga, Soli, Cewa, Tonga, Ila, Leya

This is a lavish four-CD set of fi eld recordings made by Michael Baird between 1996 and 2016. Baird has long championed Zambian music and there are some real treasures to discover here. The first CD collects examples from four neighbouring ‘peoples’: Chikunda, Nsenga, Soli and Cewa. Among several recorded culture and dance groups we hear vocals accompanied by ngororombe (pipes), unison clapping and frantic drumming. The Lusakabased Soli Culture Dance Troupe perform some attractive call-andresponse traditional songs. Highlights are four tracks by kalimba (thumb piano) player Mufrika Edward, accompanied by guitar and Baird himself playing percussion.

CD two is a complete set of tunes by the Kalonda Band – an accomplished guitar, bottle and vocal group with a moving story recounted in the sleeve notes. Disc three moves to the Southern Province with some examples of kalumbu (music bow, similar to Brazilian berimbau), and various ensembles of traditional percussion and vocal, some of which are girls’ initiation rites, funeral songs and healing music. Three excellent tracks are performed on self-made string instruments – ukulele and guitar.

The final disc is perhaps the most enlightening and uplifting. It is a ceremony, edited to 35 minutes, that concludes an initiation period of girls into womanhood. It is performed by a 60-strong choir of women and children accompanied by drums and the xylophone of Crispin Mutanuka. The unison singing is joyous and hypnotic – particularly in the climax ‘Tobana Ookamaimbo’ as the girls swear allegiance to the cultural heritage of their Leya tribe. Part of the charm of the ceremony is captured by the way Baird was able to wander around the ceremonial enclosure highlighting diff erent instruments and lead vocals. The final five tracks are xylophone- and drum-led songs by Crispin Mutanuka with the Chiyema Traditional Singers. It is fair to say that some of this rural traditional music is specialised, and while of great cultural interest it may not be to every taste. There are, however, sufficient jewels to make it thoroughly worthy of exploration, ably assisted by the excellent sleeve notes.