Leytonstone Street Festival

My band and I had a lovely time performing at Leytonestone Street Festival yesterday! There was a ton of great food, talented music bands and all round good vibes! It was a pleasure to be part of the action, and to perform at one of our favourite live music venues, Luna - The Home of Live Music. Here's a little clip of my song Dineo.

-- 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 --

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One Love Festival of Reggae & Ska

At the forefront of the UK Reggae and World music scene for over 11 years is One Love Festival of Reggae and Ska in the beautiful countryside of Somerset. Also known as the people’s festival of undividing peace and unconquering love, the festival creates a world where hope and love unites everyone into a combined and unbreakable positive force – where everyone is welcome and no-one’s judged – an atmosphere of acceptance where there are no borders - creating one people and one world.

This year, the festival introduced the Kaya World Music Stage – an outdoor stage introducing a line up of exciting music from around the world. My band, Otto & The Mutapa Calling, had the great honour of performing on the Kaya World Music Stage.

Here is a little clip of one of the songs we played.

-- LYRICS --

Wakasiya, vana vachingochema (You left the children crying)

Vachingotenderera chikomo chiye (They went around the hill)

Cha' chimurenga (It is now war)

-- 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

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Listen on Spotify here

Watch on YouTube here

ZimFest Paris

I've just come back from a lovely long weekend in Paris where I got the opportunity to teach and perform. The occasion was ZimFest - and the weekend was all about cultural music from Zimbabwe, even though I of course snuck in some material from Botswana :) 

On day one of the festival, workshops started off bright and early at Théâtre de Verre. That evening, the teachers and other collaborators came together to give a lovely concert of traditional music from Zimbabwe - performed on mbira and marimbas, accompanied by drumming, singing and dancing.

On day two, the students mainly focused on solidifying all they had learnt the day before, and in the afternoon they got the chance to perform for one another and showcase some of what they had learnt.

It was a lovely weekend at Théâtre de Verre with a beautiful mix of cultures and people from all walks of life coming together through music.

Photo Credit: Fredrik Andersson

Art Night London

Art Night is an annual free contemporary arts festival that puts art into extraordinary locations around London for one night a year.

The main festival is curated by the Hayward Gallery and Art Night Open features curated events from artists, curators and local institutions.

My band, Otto and The Mutapa Calling, had the pleasure of being part of this year's Art Night, which took place across several venues across south London this year. We were part of two live performance processions, curated by Marinella Senatore. The first took place at Battersea Power Station, and the second was at New Union Square in Nine Elms.

Otto & The Mutapa Calling performing at Art Night London 2018. Credits: Marinella Senatore, 'The London Procession' (2018). Curated by Hayward Gallery for Art Night 2018. Video by Joshua Simpson. Courtesy the artist and Art Night

Here are a few pictures from the lovely night shot by Robert Piwko.

-- 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

From The Forest Theatre And Arts Festival

From the Forest is London’s newest theatre and arts festival, which took place in Waltham Forest from 21st June to 1st July. Starting out as a four day festival in a single venue in the Winter of 2016, the festival expanded to over 60 shows this year, spread across multiple venues over two weeks. Championing the creation of new performances in great venues, the festival aims to provide an affordable platform for artists to showcase their material. Anyone and everyone is welcome to apply to be a part of the festival.

Here are a few pictures and videos from our show.

The song we're playing in the clip above is a Tswana folk song called Mangwane Mpulele. It's sung in Botswana, South Africa and Lesotho.

-- LYRICS --

Mangwane mpulele (Aunty, open up)
Ke nelwa ke pula (The rain is coming down on me)
Le ga dile pedi (Whether there are two)
Le ga dile tharo (Whether there are three)
N’ka nyala mosadi (I too can get married)

-- 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

Make Music Day UK

Make Music Day is an annual set of free music events taking place in venues and public spaces – from town squares to libraries, bandstands to school halls and arts centres.

It takes place on the longest day of the year – on 21 June. You can organise or attend an event near you while joining thousands of other music lovers around the world in 125 countries!

Here are some pictures from our Make Music Day UK show at the Scoop yesterday!

Photo credit: Peter Magula

Photo credit: Peter Magula

Photo credit: Peter Magula

-- 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

Summer Bandstand Launch - Victoria Park

Every year, there is a series of fantastic free concerts programmed in Victoria Park to liven up your summer Sundays, brought to you by Vicky Park Friends Group. Otto and the Mutapa Calling was pleased to play at the launch of the summer bandstand season. It was a cold and cloudy day, but we thoroughly enjoyed it!

Here are some pictures from our show:

-- 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

Heritage Zimbabwe Culture Day

My band and I spent the day in Coventry at a Zimbabwean culture day event. I shared some marimba songs with the young children and had a general jam towards the end of the afternoon with some of the attendees who grew up playing marimba in Zimbabwe. I find that's always the best part of these days out - meeting people who haven't played or seen a marimba in many years, and being able to give them the opportunity to reunite with the instruments and the songs. 

In the evening we got the pleasure of performing an hour long set for the attendees at the culture day event, before joining Stella Chiweshe on the stage. We performed two of her songs with her - Cha Chimurenga and Huya Uzoona. 

Here are a few pictures and videos from the day!

Marimba workshop at Heritage Zimbabwe Culture Day

Combined marimba & dance workshop

Summer Vibes

Here's a little look into our May bank holiday show at Summer Vibes in Eltham.

Taste of Southern Africa Cultural Arts Festival

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 Heritage Day Celebrations in Wimbledon Park

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: Folk Songs of Southern Africa

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.

-- LYRICS --

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)

-- 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 the band’s music shares the rich cultures, histories and stories of the people of southern Africa.

www.ottogumaelius.com

-- SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS --

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Marimba Band Wedding Entertainment: Louisa & Batsetswe

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!

Africa Utopia

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).

Fête de la Musique in Paris

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.

Marimba workshops with the young children of Clichy

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!

Performing at Café KAMU

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! 

Final workshop for the day outside Café du Parc! 

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.   

Delicious dinner at Le Coq Noir before our final performance

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

A Few Days in Beautiful Norway

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!

Posing for a picture with the band after the show

Our stage set up at the concert

We saw a field with lamas on our way to the airport and had to stop for a picture!

Pata Pata Tribute To Miriam Makeba

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

ABOUT US

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.

Spill Festival 2016

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.