Portland bands play the music of Zimbabwe

Music News

Article by Oregon Music News

December 20, 2009

Loveness Wesa

Pachi Pamwe, Supadupa Marimba Bros plus Loveness Wesa and the Bantu will play a variety of music from Zimbabwe on Tuesday, December 22, 6:30pm at Hipbone Studio, 1847 E. Burnside. -15 Sliding Scale

Andrew Oliver, no stranger to African music says, “…3 bands, all based here in Portland, each bringing you a different take on Zimbabwean music. We’ve got a great venue with plenty of space to dance! If you’re into sitting and listening, there will be chairs, too.”

Promotionally, they say:

7pm Pachi Pamwe will warm up the evening with some scintillating acoustic duets based in traditional mbira music. 8pm Supadupa Marimba Bros will make you wiggle from your head to your toes with infectious and energetic marimba tunes. 9pm Loveness Wesa and Bantuz will continue the dancing craze with original electric afro-pop, starring Loveness Wesa of Zimbabwe.

LOVENESS WESA & THE BANTUZ BAND BIO

Loveness Wesa & the Bantuz Band are based in Portland, Oregon and founded by Loveness Wesa of Zimbabwe. Rooted in the traditional music of Southern Africa, Loveness Wesa’s original Afro-pop is played on contemporary instruments. Wesa has performed all over the world including Europe, Canada, and Africa, and the band was recently featured at the Salem World beat festival. Wesa has also toured as a backup singer with Thomas Mapfumo & the Blacks Unlimited. She teaches traditional Zimbabwean dance and art as a resident artist in schools and in the community’s youth and adult programs, and is also the founder of the Kgotso African Dance Troupe. Over the past year the Bantuz have reformed in Portland and are now made up of many talented and seasoned local musicians including Andrew Oliver (Andrew Oliver Sextet, Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble) on keys and trumpet, Eric Orem (Boka Marimba) on marimba and drumset, Nathan Beck (Njuzu Mbira, Boka Marimba) also on marimba and drumset, Todd Ragland on bass, and Matt Gordon (Pachi Pamwe, The Physical Hearts) on guitar.

SUPADUPA MARIMBA BROS BIO

The Supadupa Marimba Bros are a group of dynamic young men, mostly in high school, who play enthusiastic up-beat music on African-style xylophones, called marimbas. The ensemble is set up like a choir, with bass, baritone, tenor and soprano ranged instruments. The music mostly originates in Zimbabwe but the group also has some original tunes composed by their leader, Eric Miller, but based on original ideas of some of the members, as well as a few covers of popular tunes by artists such as the Beatles. The Supadupa Marimba Bros started off at a school in NW Portland called the Metropolitan Learning Center (MLC), where Miller teaches marimba as an elective. After a couple of years, the boys went off to different schools but the band stayed together. Now in their fourth year of performing, The Supadupa Marimba Bros are sounding better than ever, adding traditional Zimbabwean vocals and percussion to the mix. “We are a dynamic outfit and we are ready to rock your world.”

Read more HERE.

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Music News question by this is my avatar: what is some recent news on illegal music downloading?
i have a project due in a couple days on the subject and my professor wants it to be more current. so the stuff between metallica and napster is a no go. though i will probably discuss it as part of a brief history.

but like what steps have been taken recently to prevent it and basically anything recent in the world of illegal music downloading.

thanks in advance.

Music News best answer:

Answer by Carol
That’s hard to say all I know is it’s easier then ever to get free music due to torrent sites and utorrent