Introducing Chimoio - Southern African Marimba Fusion Music

CHIMOIO is a lively, upbeat London based southern African fusion band playing original music with distinct cultural roots in Botswana and Zimbabwe.

We sing in English, Setswana and Chishona.

Using the marimba and mbira at the core of our music, we link our cultural past with the present, and project our hopes and aspirations for a greater world. We aim to spread joy and make people think, smile and dance.

Contact us today to make a booking.

African Marimba Music in Terra Nullius at Ipswich Museum for Spill Festival

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.

Fully kitted with our Terra Nullius red shirts in the incredibly cool room we got to play our African marimba music in.

Southern African marimba music in the Netherlands

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. 

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-- ABOUT OTTO AND THE MUTAPA CALLING --

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

-- SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS --

Like on Facebook here

Follow on Instagram here

Listen on Spotify here

Watch on YouTube here

African marimba music at Fego Caffe

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:

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-- ABOUT OTTO AND THE MUTAPA CALLING --

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

-- SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS --

Like on Facebook here

Follow on Instagram here

Listen on Spotify here

Watch on YouTube here

Entertaining at Pop Up Africa Market at Spitalfields

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!