DEEP ROOTS MALAWI
SYNOPSIS | MALAWIAN MUSIC |
TEAM BIOS |
THE INSPIRATION |
PRESS KIT
Overview of Malawian Music
Malawi is a beautiful landlocked country dominated by Lake Malawi. It's thirteen million inhabitants are packed into an area about the size of Scotland or Maine. Yet, this tiny country has produced an impressive body of influential music over the past century. Within its borders, there exist nine tribal and linguistic groups, each possessing numerous traditional dances and indigenous rhythms. These include the Chewa's masked gule wamkulu (the big dance); the Ngoni’s ingoma war dance; the beni military dance among the Yao; tchopa among the Lomwe; the healing vimbuza of the Tumbuka; and the Nyanja’s likhuba and chitsukulumwe.
Only a precious few of these traditional songs and dances were recorded in the 1940s and 1950s, and they can still be heard on cassettes in the villages across Malawi today. However, these forms of cultural expression starting slowly fading once outside influences began shaping musical preferences in the post-World War II environment.
During WWII, Malawian soldiers served in Central and East African battalions, carrying their music along with them as they covered the continent. After the war, these same soldiers brought the banjo back to Malawi and infused traditional beats with their new influences. Banjo and guitar duos dominated for nearly twenty years before being supplanted by kwela music introduced by Malawian migrant workers on their return from South Africa.
Malawian jazz, an acoustic traditional form of jazz, reigned in the 1970s, followed by the emergence of the afro-rock-Malawi beat. In the 1980s and '90s, Congolese soukous-style music took hold, as it easily blended traditional forms of Malawian music. Most recently, reggae, gospel, and pop have combined to create an eclectic and vibrant music scene across the country. Deep Roots provides a snapshot of these influences, while documenting the previously unarchived elements of Malawian musical history and expression.
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