This article may need to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please help by adding relevant internal links, or by improving the article's layout. (November 2011) Click [show] on right for more details. No reason has been cited for the Wikify tag on this article.You can insert a reason using the |reason= parameter, like this: {{Wikify|reason=Your reason here}} Please replace HTML markup with wiki markup where appropriate. Add wikilinks. Where appropriate, make links to other articles by putting "[[" and "]]" on either side of relevant words (see WP:LINK for more information) and check that your links work as expected. Please do not link terms that most readers are familiar with, such as common occupations, well-known geographical terms, and everyday items. Format the lead. Create or improve the lead paragraph. Arrange section headers as described at Wikipedia:Guide to layout. Add an infobox if it is appropriate for the article. Clean up / format the references and footnotes, using citation templates when appropriate. Remove this tag.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009)

Shona ( /ˈʃoʊnə/) is the name collectively given to two groups of people in the east and southwest of Zimbabwe, north eastern Botswana and southern Mozambique.

Shona Regional Classification[link]

The Shona people are classified as Western Shona (Bakaranga) and eastern Shona. The western Shona are called the Bakaranga and is agreed that it is the oldest Shona cluster. They are found in South western Zimbabwe and Botswana. They have been assimilated by the Ndebele people.^{[citation needed]} The bakaranga-Banyai groups are:

• Badhalaunda/batalaote (they lived in Madzilogwe, Mazhoubgwe, up to Zhozhobgwe)
• BaNambya (can be found in Hwange up to Gweta)
• BaLilima (BaWombe; Bayela - are in the central district with Baperi)
• Baperi (live together with BaLilima as mentioned above)

The eastern shona groups are:

• Karanga
• Korekore
• Manyika
• Zezuru

It should be known that Western Shona and eastern Shona languages are distinct ethnic groups who happen to have been one ethnic group hundreds of years ago. The use of the term usually neglects the western Shona which might confuse a lot of people even in historical documents. For example, it is said that Venda is a conglomeration of Shona and Sotho, it is meant western Shona. Other researchers trace the use of the term back to Mzilikazi, a zulu king who conquered some of the communities in present day Zimbabwe. According to the Zimbabwean Statistics Office the number of Shona speaking people is about nine million people, who speak a range of related dialects whose standardized form is also known as Shona (bantu). Most researchers point to the ancestors of the Shona as the creators of Great Zimbabwe, the largest pre-European stone structure south of the Equator. The origin of the ruins was once highly debated but has largely been resolved.^[1]

A small group of Shona-speaking migrants of the late 19th century also live in Zambia's Zambezi valley, in Chieftainess Chiawa's area.

The Shona were traditionally agricultural, growing beans, peanuts, corn^{[clarification needed]}, pumpkins, and sweet potatoes.

Regional groupings[link]

The Shona-speaking people are categorized into seven main linguistic groups:

• Zezuru
• Manyika
• Karanga
• Korekore
• Ndau
• Kalanga
• Nambya

These groups are all mixed up and there is hardly anything to distinguish them except the dialects. Many people who are Karanga, Zezuru, Ndau are from the Western Shona (Kalanga)who migrated east after the destruction of the Rozvi state by the Ndebele. Shona speaking people were also taken to Matebeland as captives and regard themselves as either Kalanga or Ndebele. Previously these differences did not exist as all these groups refereed to themselves as Karanga. The mutapa state which was in the area that is now Zezuru/Korekore was refere to as Mukalanga just as much as the western state was Vukalanga

Kingdoms[link]

The term Shona is as recent as the 1920s. The Kalanga and or Karanga had, from the 11th century, created empires and states on the Zimbabwe plateau. These states include the Great Zimbabwe state (12-16th century), the Torwa State, and the Munhumutapa states, which succeeded the Great Zimbabwe state as well as the Rozvi state, which succeeded the Torwa State, and which with the Mutapa state existed into the 19th century. The states were based on kingship with certain dynasties being royals.^[1]

The major dynasties were the Rozvi of the Moyo (Heart) Totem, the Elephant (of the Mutapa state), and the Hungwe (Fish Eagle) dynasties that ruled from Great Zimbabwe. The Kalanga who speak Tjikalanga are related to the Karanga possible through common ancestry. Some Shona groups are not very familiar with the existence of the Kalanaga hence they are frequently not recognised as Shona today. These groups had an adelphic succession system (brother succeeds brother) and this after a long time caused a number of civil wars which, after the 16th century, were taken advantage of by the Portuguese. Underneath the king were a number of chiefs who had sub-chiefs and headmen under them.

History[link]

The kingdoms were destroyed by new groups moving onto the plateau. The Ndebele destroyed the Chaangamire's Rozvi state in the 1830s, and the Portuguese slowly eroded the Mutapa State, which had extended to the coast of Mozambique after the state's success in providing valued exports for the Swahili, Arab and East Asian traders, especially in the mining of gold, known by the pre-colonisation miners as kuchera dyutswa at the time. The British destroyed traditional power in 1890 and colonized the plateau of Rhodesia. In Mozambique, the Portuguese colonial government fought the remnants of the Mutapa state until 1902.

Language and identity[link]

The largest groups in Zimbabwe identify themselves as Shona, others as Ndebele with the remainder falling into categories like the Tonga, Shangani, Venda, Sotho in Gwanda, Kalanga etc. Dialect groups are important in Shona although there are huge similarities among the dialects. Although 'standard' Shona is spoken throughout Zimbabwe, the dialects not only help to identify which town or village a person is from (e.g. a person who is Manyika would be from Eastern Zimbabwe, i.e. towns like Mutare) but also the ethnic group which the person belongs to. Each Shona dialect is specific to a certain ethnic group, i.e. if one speaks the Manyika dialect, they are from the Manyika group/tribe and observe certain customs and norms specific to their group. As such, if one is Zezuru, they speak the Zezuru dialect and observe those customs and beliefs that are specific to them. In 1931, during the process of trying to reconcile the dialects into the single standard Shona, Professor Clement Doke ^[2] identified six groups, each with subdivisions: 1. The Korekore or Northern Shona, including Taυara, Shangwe, Korekore proper, Goυa, Budya, the Korekore of Urungwe, the Korekore of Sipolilo, Tande, Nyongwe of "Darwin", Pfungwe of Mrewa; 2. The Zezuru group, including Shawasha, Haraυa, another Goυa, Nohwe, Hera, Njanja, Mbire, Nobvu, Vakwachikwakwa, Vakwazvimba, Tsunga; 3. The Karanga group, including Duma, Jena, Mari, Goυera, Nogoυa, Nyubi; 4. The Manyika group, including Hungwe, Manyika themselves, Teυe, Unyama, Karombe, Nyamuka, Bunji, Domba, Nyatwe, Guta, Bvumba, Here, Jindwi, Boca; 5. The Ndau group (mostly Mozambique), including Ndau themselves, Tonga, Garwe, Danda, Shanga; 6. The Kalanga group, including Nyai, Nambzya, Rozvi, Kalanga proper, Talahundra, Lilima or Humbe, and Peri.

The above differences in dialects developed during the dispersion of tribes across the country over a long time. The influx of immigrants, into the country from bordering countries, has obviously contributed to the variety.

Totems[link]

People of the same clan use a common set of totems. Totems are usually animals and body parts. Examples include Shiri/Hungwe-Fish Eagle, Mbizi/Tembo - Zebra, Shumba- Lion, Tsoko- Monkey, Nzou-Elephant or Gumbo (leg) Moyo (heart) Bepe lung, dziva- Hippo etc. These were further broken down into gender related names. For example Zebra group would break into Madhuve for the females and Dhuve or Mazvimbakupa for the males. People of the same totem are the descendants of one common ancestor (the founder of that totem)and thus are not allowed to marry or have an intimate relationship. The totems cross regional groupings and therefore provide a wall for development of ethnicism among the Shona groups.

This identification by totem has very important ramifications at traditional ceremonies such as the burial ceremony. A person with a different totem cannot initiate burial of the deceased. A person of the same totem, even when coming from a different tribe, can initiate burial of the deceased. For example a Ndebele of the Mpofu totem can initiate burial of a Shona of the Mhofu totem and that is perfectly acceptable in Shona tradition. But a Shona of a different totem cannot perform the ritual functions required to initiate burial of the deceased.

If a person initiates the burial of a person of a different totem, he runs the risk of being asked to pay a fine to the family of the deceased. Such fines traditionally were paid with cattle or goats but nowadays substantial amounts of money can be asked for.

Similarly Shona chiefs are required to be able to recite the history of their totem group right from the initial founder before they can be sworn in as chiefs.

References[link]

External links[link]

Africa portal

• People of Africa: Shona
• "Shona Translator". http://www.vashona.com/shona-translate/. 

Eva Marie Cassidy (February 2, 1963 – November 2, 1996) was an American vocalist known for her interpretations of jazz, blues, folk, gospel, country and pop classics. In 1992 she released her first album, The Other Side, a set of duets with go-go musician Chuck Brown, followed by a live solo album, Live at Blues Alley in 1996. Although she had been honored by the Washington Area Music Association, she was virtually unknown outside her native Washington, D.C., when she died of melanoma (skin cancer) in 1996.

Four years later, Cassidy's music was brought to the attention of British audiences when her version of "Over the Rainbow" was played by Terry Wogan on BBC Radio 2. Following the overwhelming response, a camcorder recording of "Over the Rainbow", taken at Blues Alley in Washington, was shown on BBC Two's Top of the Pops 2. Shortly afterwards, the compilation album Songbird climbed to the top of the UK Albums Charts, almost three years after its initial release. The chart success in the United Kingdom and Ireland led to increased recognition worldwide; her posthumously released recordings, including three UK number 1s, have sold more than ten million copies.^[1] Her music has also charted top 10 positions in Australia, Germany, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland.^[2]

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Born on February 2, 1963, at the Washington Hospital Center,^[3] Cassidy grew up in Oxon Hill and later Bowie, Maryland, suburbs of Washington, D.C.. She was the third of four children born to Hugh and Barbara Cassidy. Her father, a retired teacher, sculptor, musician, Powerlifter and former army medic, is of Scottish and Irish descent, while her German-born mother was a horticulturist.^[2][4][5] From an early age, Cassidy displayed interest in art and music. When she was nine, her father taught her to play the guitar and she began to play and sing at family gatherings.^[4]

At age 11, Cassidy began singing and playing guitar in a Washington area band called Easy Street.^[6] This band performed in a variety of styles at weddings, corporate parties and pubs. Due to her shyness, she struggled with performing in front of strangers. While a student at Bowie High School, she sang with a local band called Stonehenge.^[4] During the summer of 1983, Cassidy sang and played guitar six days a week at the theme park Wild World.^[4] Her younger brother Dan, a fiddler, was also a member of this working band. She enrolled in art classes at a community college but dropped out after finding them unhelpful.^[7]

Throughout the 1980s, Cassidy worked with several other bands, including the techno-pop band Characters Without Names. During this period, Cassidy also worked as a propagator at a plant nursery and as a furniture painter. In her free time, she explored other artistic expressions including painting, sculpting and jewelry design.^[7] Despite holding a belief in God, Cassidy was not part of any organized religion.^[8]

Music career[link]

In 1986, Cassidy was asked by Stonehenge guitarist and high school friend, David Lourim, to lend her voice to his music project, Method Actor.^[9] This brought her to Black Pond Studios, where she met bassist and recording engineer Chris Biondo. Biondo helped her find work as a session singer and later introduced her to Al Dale, who would become her manager. She sang back-ups for various acts, from go-go rhythm and blues band Experience Unlimited to rapper E-40.^[10] Biondo and Cassidy, who were in a romantic relationship for a time, formed the five-piece "Eva Cassidy Band" with Lenny Williams, Keith Grimes and Raice McLeod in 1990. They began to perform frequently in the Washington area.^[4]

	"Over the Rainbow" noicon One of the changes Cassidy made to "Over the Rainbow" includes singing the opening word "somewhere" on the same high A flat, rather than with an octave jump of the Judy Garland version.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

	"Stormy Monday" noicon Cassidy's arrangement of T-Bone Walker's popular blues song.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

In 1992, Biondo played a tape of Cassidy's voice for Chuck Brown, the "Godfather of go-go".^[11] It resulted in the duet album The Other Side featuring performances of classic songs such as "Fever", "God Bless the Child," and what would later become Cassidy's signature song, "Over the Rainbow". The album was released and distributed in 1992 by Liaison Records, the label that also released Brown's Go-go albums. Brown originally intended to record a single duet with Cassidy for his next solo album, but this was postponed due to ongoing negotiations between Dale and other labels for a solo deal.^[10][12] Cassidy's unwillingness to narrow her stylistic focus to one genre hindered her chances of securing a deal.^[13][14] After talks broke down, the two decided to record their own duet album. As a duo, they performed at the Columbia Arts Festival and opened for acts like Al Green and The Neville Brothers.^[10]

In 1993, Cassidy was honored by the Washington Area Music Association with a Wammie award for the Vocalist Jazz/Traditional category.^[15] The next year she was invited to perform at the event and chose to sing "Over the Rainbow". A Washington Times review of the event called her performance "a show-stopper".^[16] She took home two Wammies that night, again for Vocalist Jazz/Traditional and also for Roots Rock/Traditional R&B.^[15] For a brief period that year, Cassidy signed a deal with Blue Note Records to pair up with pop-jazz band Pieces of a Dream to release an album and tour the country. She sang two tracks in a mainly instrumental album. It was a musically unsatisfying experience for her.^[10]

After having a potential contract with Apollo Records collapse when the label went bankrupt, Biondo and Dale decided that she should release her own live album.^[10] In January 1996, the material for Live at Blues Alley was recorded over a two-day period at Blues Alley, Washington, D.C. Due to a technical glitch on the first night of recording,^[17] only the second night's recording was usable. Unhappy with the way she sounded due to a cold, she was reluctant to release the album. She eventually relented, on the condition that the studio track "Oh, Had I a Golden Thread", Cassidy's favorite song,^[18] would be included in the release, and that they start working on a follow-up studio album.^[7][10] Her apprehension appeared unfounded as local reviewers and the public responded positively.^[7] The Washington Post commented that "she could sing anything — folk, blues, pop, jazz, R&B, gospel — and make it sound like it was the only music that mattered."^[11] The subsequent studio album she worked on was released as Eva by Heart posthumously in 1997. In the liner notes of Eva by Heart, critic Joel E. Siegel described Cassidy as "one of the greatest voices of her generation."^[7]

Death[link]

In 1993, Cassidy had a malignant mole removed from her back. Three years later, during a promotional event for the Live at Blues Alley album in July 1996, Cassidy noticed an ache in her hips, which she attributed to stiffness from painting murals while perched atop a stepladder.^[11] The pain persisted and a few weeks later, X-rays revealed that the melanoma had spread to her lungs and bones. Her doctors estimated she had three to five months to live. Cassidy opted for aggressive treatment, but her health deteriorated rapidly. In the early fall, at a benefit concert for her at the Bayou, she made her final public appearance, closing the set with "What a Wonderful World" in front of an audience of friends, fans and family. Additional chemotherapy was uneffective, and within six weeks she had died.^[2][11][19]

Cassidy died on November 2, 1996, at her family home in Bowie, Maryland. She was 33. In accordance with her wishes, her body was cremated and the ashes were scattered on the lake shores of St. Mary's River Watershed Park, a nature reserve near Callaway, Maryland.^[2]

Posthumous recognition[link]

After Cassidy's death, local folk singer Grace Griffith introduced the Blues Alley recording to Bill Straw from her label, Blix Street Records.^[19] Straw approached the Cassidy family to put together a new album. In 1998, a compilation of tracks from Cassidy's three released recordings was assembled into the CD Songbird. This CD lingered in relative obscurity for two years until being given airplay by Terry Wogan on his wide-reaching BBC Radio 2 show Wake Up to Wogan, following recommendation by his producer Paul Walters. The album sold more than 100,000 copies in the following months.^[2] The New York Times spoke of her "silken soprano voice with a wide and seemingly effortless range, unerring pitch and a gift for phrasing that at times was heart-stoppingly eloquent."^[19]

Before Christmas of 2000, Top Of The Pops 2 aired a video of Cassidy performing "Over the Rainbow", which resulted in Songbird climbing steadily up the UK charts over the next few weeks. Just as ITV's Tonight with Trevor McDonald aired a feature on Cassidy, the album topped the chart.^[20] Shot at Blues Alley by a friend with a camcorder the same night the album was recorded,^[2] the video became the most requested video ever shown on Top Of The Pops 2.^[21] "There's an undeniable emotional appeal in hearing an artist who you know died in obscurity singing a song about hope and a mystical world beyond everyday life", wrote The Guardian.^[22]

Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton were among her new-found fans. Jazz critic Ted Gioia writes, "you might be tempted to write off the 'Cassidy sensation' [...] as a response to the sad story of the singer's abbreviated life rather than as a measure of her artistry. But don't be mistaken, Cassidy was a huge talent, whose obscurity during her lifetime was almost as much a tragedy as her early death."^[23] Songbird has since achieved significant chart success throughout Europe and six times platinum status in the UK.^[2][24] Although still relatively unknown in the United States at that time, the album would eventually be certified gold in the U.S. as well.^[25]

In May 2001, ABC's Nightline in the United States broadcast a well-received short documentary about Cassidy.^[26] Over the weekend, all five of Cassidy's albums occupied Amazon.com's best sellers list top spots.^[27] The Nightline episode has since been rebroadcast three times due to popular demand.^[28] Producer Leroy Sievers has said that it is "probably the most popular Nightline ever".^[29] In December, a nine-minute segment on NPR resulted in a similar sales surge, with five of the top seven spots going to Cassidy.^[4] A rebroadcast of the Tonight with Trevor McDonald feature on Cassidy in Britain also bumped up sales.^[4][30]

Since Songbird, several other CDs with original material have been released: Time After Time (2000), Imagine (2002) and American Tune (2003). 2008 saw the release of another new album titled Somewhere. Unlike previous albums, which consisted solely of cover songs, this release contains two original songs co-written by Cassidy. An acoustic album titled Simply Eva was released in January 2011.

Together with word of mouth and internet fansites, online commerce has played a big role in Cassidy's success.^[31][32] This point was further affirmed when in 2005, Amazon.com released a list of its top 25 best-selling musicians, which placed Cassidy in fifth position, behind The Beatles, U2, Norah Jones and Diana Krall,^[33] and far ahead of Elvis Presley and several other well-known stars.^[34]

In 2004, during the gala opening of the Bowie Center for the Performing Arts, the Bowie Regional Arts Vision Association, Inc. (BRAVA) dedicated the Star's Dressing Room to Eva. Following a moving tribute to Eva, Chuck Brown took the stage and performed his duet "with" Eva as her photos and video appeared in the background.

Unofficial recordings[link]

A collection of previously unreleased studio recordings from 1987 to 1991, was released in 2000 as No Boundaries. This release was not endorsed by the Cassidy family^[2] and was released under a different label. An allmusic review of the album stated that even "a gifted vocalist like Eva Cassidy can only do so much with bad material".^[35] In 2002, the self titled 1988 album by the band Method Actor, which featured Cassidy, was re-released by the band's guitarist and producer David Lourim with Cassidy's name displayed prominently on the cover. The Cassidy family and Blix Street Records filed a lawsuit against Lourim, claiming that Cassidy's name was used in a misleading fashion and that Blix Street has exclusive rights to her recordings.^[36] Lourim had Cassidy's written permission to release the album and eventually the cover was changed to look like the original LP album while already released copies were affixed with a sticker indicating that they are not solo Eva Cassidy albums.^[37][38]

A bootleg recording which has been in circulation is called Live at Pearl's. It was recorded at Pearl's Restaurant in Annapolis, Maryland in 1994. Copies of the recording were circulated among friends and families after her death. Some of the songs on the recording are also on Imagine and American Tune.^[39] Another recording, featuring Mick Fleetwood on drums and recorded at his restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia called Fleetwood's in the early 1990s, was in the possession of Niki Lee - the former wife of pianist Lenny Williams - who discovered it in her garage and attempted to sell it on eBay in 2008.^[40]

In popular media[link]

In 2001, a book titled Songbird: Eva Cassidy: Her Story By Those Who Knew Her, on the life and work of Cassidy based on interviews with close family and associates was released in the UK. The hardcover edition has since sold in excess of 100,000 copies. A U.S. edition published by Gotham Books was released in late 2003 and includes two additional chapters on her influences and success in the US. Her life story has also been adapted into a musical^[41] and also a Broadway piece for cancer benefit.^[42]

At the 2002 Winter Olympics gala, and later on tour, figure skater Michelle Kwan brought Cassidy's music to a new audience when she skated to a recording of "Fields of Gold". Kwan's part in exposing the music of Cassidy to the international and American public led Cassidy's label to present her a gold record from the certification of Songbird.^[43] Subsequently, other figure skaters such as Kristi Yamaguchi, Sarah Hughes and Kimmie Meissner have used Cassidy's music in their routines.

Anglo-Georgian singer Katie Melua is a keen fan of Cassidy.^[44] Her debut album "Call Off the Search" contained the song "Faraway Voice", written in Cassidy's memory.^[44] Melua has also performed Cassidy's arrangement of "Anniversary Song" in concert.^[44] On Christmas Eve 2006, she performed alongside video footage of Cassidy singing Over The Rainbow on BBC One's "Duet Impossible".^[45] One year later, Cassidy's "What A Wonderful World" was spliced together with new vocals by Melua and released as a single exclusively at the British retail chain Tesco. It debuted at #1 on the UK Singles chart on December 16. All profits from the single went to the British Red Cross.^[46] Irish singer Chris de Burgh has stated that his song "Songbird" from his album The Road to Freedom was written in honour of Cassidy. Singer Mary Chapin Carpenter made reference to Cassidy in the song "My Heaven" on the album Between Here and Gone: "More memories than my heart can hold, when Eva's singing 'Fields of Gold'."

In 2008, Cassidy's recording of "Autumn Leaves" was used by the Canadian National Professional Latin Champions, Andre and Natalie Paramonov, when they competed in America's Ballroom Challenge as finalists in the International Latin Competition.

The first film to feature an Eva Cassidy recording was Flight of Fancy starring Dean Cain. Since then her music has appeared in various film and TV series including the Dawson's Creek season four episode titled "The Graduate," Judging Amy, Joe Somebody, Love Actually, Maid in Manhattan, The Man From Elysian Fields, Alpha Dog and Smallville. Cassidy's arrangement of "Over the Rainbow" is a popular cover choice by singing competition contestants, with American Idol season 5 runner-up Katharine McPhee and The X Factor season 3 winner Leona Lewis among the singers. Her interpretation of "Imagine" has been performed by American Idol season 7 runner-up David Archuleta.

In March 2012, Sweden's Caroline Larsson and Bengt Magnusson released an album entitled A Tribute to Eva Cassidy.

Possibility of future film[link]

In late 2007, AIR Productions acquired the rights to produce a film based on Cassidy's life.^[47] It is being produced by Amy Redford (daughter of Robert Redford), Irwin Shapiro and Rick Singer.^[48] In an interview a year earlier, Cassidy's parents suggested Kirsten Dunst or Emily Watson as possible actresses who could play their daughter.^[49]

A documentary on the life, art and music of Cassidy entitled Eva's Song is expected to be in theaters February 2013.^[50]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

Bootleg[link]

Videography[link]

References[link]

Notes[link]

Books[link]

• Rob Burley; Jonathan Maitland, Elana Rhodes Byrd (2003). Eva Cassidy: Songbird: Her Story by Those Who Knew Her. Gotham Books. ISBN 978-1-59240-035-5. 
• Johan Bakker; Behind the Rainbow, the tragic life of Eva Cassidy (2012) Omnibus Press, 207 pages, ISBN 978-1-78038-231-9

External links[link]

• Eva Cassidy website maintained by her cousin, Laura Claire Bligh
• Eva Cassidy Artwork website
• Evasongs recordings information
• Eva Cassidy at the All Music Guide
• Eva Cassidy on ABC Nightline
• Eva Cassidy Feature on ABC Nightline
• Eva Cassidy: Songbird: Her Story by Those Who Knew Her at Google Book Search
• Over the Rainbow on YouTube – Eva plays live, recorded on a friend's video camera — became the most requested video ever shown on Top Of The Pops 2.
• Tears in Heaven on YouTube - Mary Ann Redmond & Eva Cassidy singing Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven" – From a 1995 performance at Fleetwood's in Alexandria, VA.
• Website Eva Cassidy Biography

Kevin Volans is a composer associated with the post-minimalist movement in contemporary composition. He was born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa on July 6, 1949, and even though he has spent most of his life outside his native country, is the best known South African composer active today.

In 1972, he graduated from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg with a Bachelor of Music degree, followed by post-graduate education at the University of Aberdeen. From 1973 to 1981 he lived in Cologne, where he studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen at the Musikhochschule. During this period he served as Stockhausen's teaching assistant in 1975–76 (Taylor 2001).

During this period of time, along with his contemporaries Walter Zimmermann and Clarence Barlow, he became associated with the musical movement called the "New Simplicity" that would later influence post-minimalist composition. This was a reaction against the complexities and hyperbole of the new music scene in Germany in the mid-1970s, and it proved to be highly influential.^{[citation needed]}

After conducting several field recording trips in 1979, Volans began writing pieces based upon African compositional techniques. This characteristic made him one of the most distinctive composers on the European new music circuit at the time. Some of his works such as Matepe and the first version of White Man Sleeps utilize early music instruments including harpsichord (tuned in African tuning) and viola da gamba.

The first of his compositions to reach a wide audience was a new version of White Man Sleeps, made at the suggestion of the Kronos Quartet in 1985. This version reorders the movements of the original version, and uses conventional western tuning. The Kronos Quartet's album of that name (which however features only three of Volans's five movements) became a best-seller, and White Man Sleeps has been taken up by many choreographers, notably Siobhan Davies. Volans followed it up with Hunting: Gathering, his second quartet, written for Kronos in 1987.

Volans was Composer-in Residence at Queen's University Belfast from 1986-89. Thereafter he has made his home in the Republic of Ireland and in 1994 became an Irish citizen. His notable students include Justinian Tamusuza.

The works of the late 1980s and early 1990s show a move away from the direct influence of African music towards a highly personal sort of minimalism. Part of this may have been the influence of the American composer Morton Feldman, who was a close friend; but the language of the compositions this era, including the orchestral work One Hundred Frames (1990), the striking two-piano work Cicada (1994), or the Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments (1995) are identifiably his own. Central among them is an opera, The Man with Footsoles of Wind, premiered in London in 1993, and based on an idea by his friend, the English novelist Bruce Chatwin. The work of visual artists such as Philip Guston, Jasper Johns and James Turrell figure among Volans's influences in these years.

A close working relationship with the London-based Duke Quartet led Volans to write more for the string quartet medium, including the fifth quartet, Dancers on a Plane (1994) and the sixth quartet (2000). For much of the late 1990s he concentrated on dance collaborations with such choreographers as Jonathan Burrows and Siobhan Davies. Since 2000, however, he has devoted most of his energy to orchestral works; since his fine Cello Concerto of 1997 he has written a Concerto for Double Orchestra, a Trio Concerto which received its UK premier as part of the Soundwaves Festival 2007, and a second Piano Concerto, subtitled "Atlantic Crossing", which was premiered by Marc-André Hamelin in November 2006.

Publications[link]

• Volans, Kevin. 1971. "The Klavierstücke: Stockhausen’s Microcosm". Unpublished BMus Essay: University of the Witwatersrand.
• Volans, Kevin. [n.d.1978]. "Conversation with Walter Zimmermann". In Feedback Papers Reprint 1-16, 1971-1978, [ed. Johannes Fritsch]. Cologne: Feedback Studio, 338-341.
• Volans, Kevin. [n.d.1978]. "Interview with John McGuire". Feedback Papers Reprint 1-16, 1971-1978. Cologne: Feedback Studio, 347-349.
• Volans, Kevin. [n.d.1978]. "Monkey Music 2: Paraphrase". Feedback Papers Reprint 1-16, 1971-1978. Cologne: Feedback Studio, 354-355.
• Volans, Kevin. [n.d.1978]. "Understanding Stockhausen". Feedback Papers Reprint 1-16, 1971-1978. Cologne: Feedback Studio, 407-409.
• Volans, Kevin and Johannes Fritsch. [n.d.1978]. "Interview with Pauline Oliveros". Feedback Papers Reprint 1-16, 1971-1978. Cologne: Feedback Studio, 352-353.
• Volans, Kevin. 1985. Summer Gardeners: Conversations with Composers. Durban: Newer Music Edition.
• Volans, Kevin. 1986. "A New Note". Leadership [Cape Town], March, 79-82.
• Volans, Kevin. 1989. "Dancing in the Dark". New Observations, May, 67, 4-5.
• Volans, Kevin. 1994. "On Top Form: Minimalist John Pawson’s Redesign of a Grand Dublin Residence … ". Image, October, 32-34 and 38-39.
• Volans, Kevin. "A Dialogue Between Collaborators". Dance Theatre Journal 12(4), 14-15.
• Volans, Kevin. 2001/2. "White Man Sleeps: Composer’s Statement". NewMusicSA: Bulletin of the International Society for Contemporary Music - South African Section, First Issue, 5-7.
• Volans, Kevin. 2008. "Inaudible Music". In Discontinuity, Paradox & Precision. Birmingham: Ikon Gallery.
• Volans, Kevin. and Hilary Bracefield. 1987. "A Constant State of Surprise: Gerald Barry and The Intelligence Park". Contact 31, 9-11.

References[link]

• Ballantine, Christopher. 2001/2. "Christopher Ballantine reviews Cicada". NewMusicSA: Bulletin of the International Society for Contemporary Music - South African Section, First Issue, 7-8.
• Blake, Michael. 1992. "Volans, Kevin". In Contemporary Composers, eds. Brian Norton and Pamela Collins, 951-952.
• Blake, Michael. 1993. "Almeida opera: Kevin Volans and Julian Grant". Tempo 186, 52-53.
• Bräuninger, Jürgen. 1998. "Gumboots to the Rescue". South African Journal of Musicology: SAMUS 18, 1-16.
• Chatwin, Bruce. 1989. "Kevin Volans". In What Am I Doing Here? 63-69. London: Picador.
• Clarkson Fletcher, J., J. Dazeley, J. Taylor and E. Wetherall [n.d.1998]. "Towards New Models for the Analysis of Post-serial and Post-tonal Music, with Particular Reference to Kevin Volans’ White Man Sleeps". In Proceedings of the 25th Annual Congress of the Musicological Society of Southern Africa, Grahamstown, August 1998, ed. W. Lüdemann, 7-18. [Stellenbosch: Musicological Society of Southern Africa.]
• Fox, James. 1988. "Staging Songlines: Interview". Village Voice 18(12), 138–9, 199 and 202.
• Gaisford, Sue. 1999. "How We Met: Elizabeth Chatwin & Kevin Volans". The Independent (London), 4 July.
• Gann, Kyle. 1988. "Fear of Symmetry: Boston Composers and Kronos Quartets". Village Voice, 23 February.
• Gann, Kyle. 1998. "Consumer Guide". Village Voice, 1 September.
• Gilmore, Bob. 2006. "Wild Air: The Music of Kevin Volans". The Journal of Music in Ireland 6(6), 22-29.
• Grözinger, Jürgen. 2006. "'Zur Freiheit Führen Viele Wege’: Der Componist Kevin Volans über Afrika und die Musikalische Avantgarde". Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 5, September/October, 16-17.
• Loppert, Max. 1993. "Volans: The Man Who Strides The Wind". Opera, 68, 1102–1104.
• Marcus, Bunita. 1989. "Preface". New Observations 67, 2.
• Olwage, Grant. 1999/2000. "Who Needs Rescuing? A Reply to 'Gumboots to the Rescue'”. South African Journal of Musicology: SAMUS 19, 105-108.
• Potter, Keith. 1982. "Repetitive Music Again (and Again)". Classical Music 28 August 1982.
• Pooley, Thomas M. 2008. "Composition in Crisis: Case Studies in South African Art Music 1980-2006". Unpublished MA Dissertation: University of the Witwatersrand.
• Rörich, Mary. "Three Rhythmic Etudes. Dublin: Black Sheep Edition, 2002; Three Structural Etudes. Dublin: Black Sheep Edition, 2003" [score review]. South African Journal of Musicology: SAMUS 25,151-154.
• Scherzinger, Martin. 2004. "Art Music in a Cross-cultural Context: The Case of Africa". In The Cambridge History of Twentieth-century Music, eds. N. Cook and A. Pople, 584-613. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Scherzinger, Martin. 2004/5. "Of Sleeping White Men: Analytic Silence in the Critical Reception of Kevin Volans". NewMusicSA: Bulletin of the International Society for Contemporary Music - South African Section, Third and Fourth Issue, 22-26.
• Scherzinger, Martin. 2008. "Who’s 'White Man Sleeps'? Aesthetics and Politics in the Early Work of Kevin Volans". In Composing Apartheid: Music For and Against Apartheid, ed. Grant Olwage, 209-235. Johannesburg: Wits University Press.
• Taylor, Timothy D. 1995. "When We Think about Music and Politics: The Case of Kevin Volans". Perspectives of New Music 33, 504–536.
• Taylor, Timothy D. 2001. "Volans, Kevin". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan.
• Taylor, Timothy D. "Volans, Kevin". Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy, http://www.grovemusic.com
• Walton, Christopher. 2002/3. "Kevin Volans String Quartets Nos. 1, 2 & 6". NewMusicSA: Bulletin of the International Society for Contemporary Music - South African Section, Second Issue, 22-24.

External links[link]

• kevinvolans.com
• Contemporary Music Centre, composer page
• Dictionary of African Composers
• 'Wild Air: the music of Kevin Volans' by Bob Gilmore (from the Journal of Music in Ireland)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009)

Thomas Tafirenyika Mapfumo (born 1945) is a Zimbabwean musician known as "The Lion of Zimbabwe" and "Mukanya" for his immense popularity and for the political influence he wields through his music, including his sharp criticism of the government of President Robert Mugabe. He both created and made popular Chimurenga music and his slow-moving style and distinctive voice is instantly recognizable to Zimbabweans.

He now lives in exile in the United States,^[1] although he occasionally returns to Zimbabwe.

Mapfumo was born in 1945 in Marondera, Mashonaland East, a town southeast of Harare the capital of Zimbabwe, though at the time, the country was a colony of Great Britain called Rhodesia. He lived a traditional, rural Shona lifestyle until the age of ten, when his family moved to the Harare township of Mbare. It was during these early years that he was exposed to the traditional music of the Shona, the influence of which would drive his later music to incorporate and/or reflect the sounds of the ngoma drum and the mbira, a metal-pronged instrument with spiritual importance.^[2]

He joined his first band, the Zutu Brothers (Encyclopædia Britannica says it was the Cyclones), as a singer at the age of 16. From then he was always in one band or another, sometimes doing odd jobs on the side as well, including chicken farming. Hence the name of his 1972 band, the Hallelujah Chicken Run Band.

He played mostly covers of American rock and soul tunes, such as Otis Redding or Elvis Presley, until he was in the Hallelujah Chicken Run Band. There he introduced the innovation of adapting traditional Shona music to modern rock instrumentation.

He worked with guitarist Joshua Dube (Leopard Man's Africa Music Guide says Jonah Sithole) to transcribe the sounds of the chief instrument of traditional Shona music, the mbira to the electric guitar. He also started singing primarily in the Shona language, rather than in English.

Just the fact that he was drawing on the native musical tradition and singing in his native language was a political statement. Rhodesia was ruled by a minority of white individuals who derogated the native black population and culture. But more than that, his lyrics became overtly political, supporting the revolution that was developing in the rural areas, what Mapfumo calls "the communal lands". He called his new style of music Chimurenga. In Shona it means "struggle", and was the name of a previous revolutionary movement in the late 19th century. His songs openly called for the violent overthrow of the government, with lyrics like "Mothers, send your sons to war." But since the white government didn't understand Shona, they didn't realize how radical it was.

Eventually they caught on, though. The climax came with a song called "Hokoyo!", which means "Watch out!" The government banned the record from the state-controlled radio and threw him into a prison camp without charges in 1979. But they couldn't stop his records from being played in discos or on radio they didn't control, like the Voice of Mozambique. Large demonstrations in protest of his arrest and an inability to trump up charges against him forced the government to release him after three months.

Free elections were held in 1980 and a new government was installed. Mapfumo performed at a celebratory concert which also featured Bob Marley. In later years, he would come to criticise the same government he, in some ways, helped bring to power.^[2]

The PRI-syndicated radio program Afropop Worldwide ran a feature on Thomas Mapfumo in late 1988/early 1989. Host Georges Collinet describes Mapfumo as living in the low-density suburbs with his wife, who worked at a law office in downtown Harare, and his two children—a boy and a girl. And he drove a blue Ford with fake leopard-skin seat covers.

Most of his songs were still political, dealing with poverty and other social issues. Mapfumo comments on the fact that he doesn't sing many love songs: "All you need if you wanna get into the bedroom... You've got a wife. You do it. You don't have to sing a song about it." Collinet also observes that Mapfumo can't sing anything he wants: "Clearly he can't sing 'Down with President Mugabe' - but he wouldn't want to. He supports the present government." However, that would soon change.

Recorded at Shed Studios Harare, by engineer Benny Miller, Mapfumo released the album Corruption in 1989. It criticized Mugabe and his government, with which Mapfumo was becoming more and more disillusioned. Mugabe wasn't happy with Mapfumo, either, and Mapfumo became the target of government harassment. Mapfumo was accused of being involved with a stolen-car ring. Things got uncomfortable enough that Mapfumo moved to Eugene, Oregon in the late 1990s, where he continues to reside today.

Thomas Mapfumo tours internationally, and still sings and speaks out about the problems of Zimbabwe. His Chimurenga style of music influenced other Zimbabwean musicians, including the Bhundu Boys and Stella Chiweshe.

See also[link]

• Afropop
• Chimurenga
• Mbira
• Music of Zimbabwe
• Shona music

References[link]

External links[link]

• Home Page
• aNOnym reCOrds
• Read an album review of Rise Up by Thomas Mapfumo at Fly
• Musicologist Massimo Milano interviews Thomas Mapfumo / FinisTerrae Magazine - November 2008 (in Italian)
• Afropop Worldwide
• profile written by Banning Eyre
• March 2002 interview
• Encyclopædia Britannica (entry written by Elizabeth Laskey): "Mapfumo, Thomas." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2003. Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. 30 July 2003 <http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=125501>.
• The Leopard Man's African Music Guide
• Global Village Idiot
• Banning Eyre, "The Lion In Winter", The Walrus, April 2005.
• Thomas Mapfumo's Music Page on Calabash Music

• Zimbabwe Music Online