Easter Bash at the Beach
April 13, 2010 A few weekends ago I had the privilege of playing with Peter Mawanga at Lake Malawi as part of the Sunbird Hotel’s Easter Bash weekend. Braai meat, a pristine beach, and huge stage-it...
View ArticleFall in Malawi
A May night in Malawi feels like a North Carolina one in October. Indeed it is fall in Malawi and I am finally putting my sweatshirts to good use. Lilongwe is undergoing a makeover. The dusty...
View ArticleLilongwe Arts Festival
The pulse of Brundian drum beats. The calculated pauses and dynamics of spoken word poetry. The wail of Ernest Ikwanga’s guitar as Mafilika swells behind him. This past weekend, the International...
View ArticleYOBA-YO!!
I can almost hear the vuvuzelas from South Africa…or wait, that’s actually a pickup truck that just drove by with young vuvuzela-wielding men blaring to their heart’s content. I can’t imagine what its...
View ArticleMoving Windmills…The Power of an Individual.
I have written several times about William Kamkwamba, the acclaimed “Boy who harnessed the wind.” On June 24th, myself and a few other friends were graciously invited to see the unveiling of William’s...
View ArticleMara Kumbweza Banda
“First of all, it’s Mara Kumbweza Banda. I come from the Banda clan. The family name is Kumbweza. So it is important to identify myself from which family I come from.” Mara was very specific that I...
View ArticleTake One
August 7th, 2010 The games have begun. We did our first recording session on Friday, August 6th. I would have burst out the champagne (they actually have champagne in MalawiJ) in celebration but I...
View ArticleTales from the Studio: Part 2
I had the privilege of getting to record with some of Malawi’s best musicians last week. Alfred Sitolo (bass) and Dryson Mwimba (drums) constitute 2/5 of Peter’s Amaravi Movement, the band which Peter...
View ArticleA Teacher’s Dream
A few weeks ago I asked my friend Q Malewezi whom he could recommend for taking lessons in the musical traditions of Malawi. Without hesitation he said “Charles Mkanthama.” I figured it was high time I...
View ArticleIf My Eyes Could Sing
What role does Music play in our world? How can a story change lives? Check out this trailer for the upcoming documentary film, If My Eyes Could Sing, from Jon Haas. Following my concept music album...
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