Mutanuka and Syasiya

The silimba (xylophone) and kanimba (thumb piano) both appeared on the splendid four-CD box set Luangwa to Livingstone (reviewed in #157, May 2020 issue). Crispin Mutanuka is the celebrated silimba player who, during the period of Kenneth Kaunda's newly independent Zambia, was part of the National Cultural Ensemble. Edwin Syasiya plays the kanimba and is one of the few performers in the region preserving the instrument's tradition. They perform a pair of short pieces together – recorded during a female initiation ceremony in 1996 – during which the two instruments remarkably mesh into one. The other tracks in this collection are all performed individually in 2010, 2014 and 2018 and include the final performance by Crispin Mutanuka before he passed away in 2018. Two of his tracks also appeared on the Zam Groove vinyl (also reviewed in #157).

Both silimba and kanimba have a delightfully clunky and earthy tonal quality – both played with intricate accuracy and fittingly accompanied by the touchingly intimate vocal mutterings of the respective players. Fascinating and superbly packaged examples of disappearing musical traditions. The music on this CD can also be heard on the documentary film of the same name.