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Dumisani Maraire
 
 
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Abraham Dumisani Maraire (1944-November 25, 1999), known to friends as "Dumi," was a master performer of the mbira
Mbira

In Music of Zimbabwe, the mbira is a musical instrument consisting of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys have been attached. It is often fitted into a deze that functions as a resonator....
, a traditional instrument of the Shona
Shona people

Shona is the name collectively given to several groups of people in Zimbabwe and southern Mozambique. Numbering about nine million people, who speak a range of related dialects whose standardized form is also known as Shona language ....
 ethnic group
Ethnic group

An ethnic group is a group of humans whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage that is real or presumed.Ethnic identity is further marked by the recognition from others of a group's distinctiveness and the recognition of common culture, linguistic, religion, human behaviour or Race traits, real or presumed, as indic...
 of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe , is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo River rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east....
. He specialized in the form of mbira called nyunga nyunga
Mbira

In Music of Zimbabwe, the mbira is a musical instrument consisting of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys have been attached. It is often fitted into a deze that functions as a resonator....
, as well as the Zimbabwean marimba
Marimba

The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion instrument family. Keys or bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys to aid the performer both visually and physically....
. He introduced Zimbabwean music to North America, initiating a flourishing of Zimbabwean music in the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest is a region in the northwest of North America . There are several partially overlapping definitions but the term Pacific Northwest should not be confused with the Northwest Territory or the Northwest Territories of Canada....
 that continues to spread in the 21st century.

Maraire was born in Mutare
Mutare

Mutare is the fourth largest city in Zimbabwe, with a population of approximately 189,000. It is the capital of Manicaland province....
, Rhodesia
Rhodesia

Rhodesia was the name adopted when the formerly British colonies of Southern Rhodesia declared itself independent on 11 November 1965. The name was also used with the establishment of Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979....
 (now Zimbabwe).






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Abraham Dumisani Maraire (1944-November 25, 1999), known to friends as "Dumi," was a master performer of the mbira
Mbira

In Music of Zimbabwe, the mbira is a musical instrument consisting of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys have been attached. It is often fitted into a deze that functions as a resonator....
, a traditional instrument of the Shona
Shona people

Shona is the name collectively given to several groups of people in Zimbabwe and southern Mozambique. Numbering about nine million people, who speak a range of related dialects whose standardized form is also known as Shona language ....
 ethnic group
Ethnic group

An ethnic group is a group of humans whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage that is real or presumed.Ethnic identity is further marked by the recognition from others of a group's distinctiveness and the recognition of common culture, linguistic, religion, human behaviour or Race traits, real or presumed, as indic...
 of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe , is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo River rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east....
. He specialized in the form of mbira called nyunga nyunga
Mbira

In Music of Zimbabwe, the mbira is a musical instrument consisting of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys have been attached. It is often fitted into a deze that functions as a resonator....
, as well as the Zimbabwean marimba
Marimba

The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion instrument family. Keys or bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys to aid the performer both visually and physically....
. He introduced Zimbabwean music to North America, initiating a flourishing of Zimbabwean music in the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest is a region in the northwest of North America . There are several partially overlapping definitions but the term Pacific Northwest should not be confused with the Northwest Territory or the Northwest Territories of Canada....
 that continues to spread in the 21st century.

Maraire was born in Mutare
Mutare

Mutare is the fourth largest city in Zimbabwe, with a population of approximately 189,000. It is the capital of Manicaland province....
, Rhodesia
Rhodesia

Rhodesia was the name adopted when the formerly British colonies of Southern Rhodesia declared itself independent on 11 November 1965. The name was also used with the establishment of Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979....
 (now Zimbabwe). He began learning music from family members, and later at the college of music in Bulawayo
Bulawayo

Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, after the capital Harare, with a population of 676,000 , now estimated as 707,000. It is located in Matabeleland, 439km south-west of Harare , and is now treated as a separate provincial area from Matabeleland....
. Maraire taught from 1968 through 1972 at the University of Washington
University of Washington

University of Washington, founded in 1861, is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, Washington, United States. Also known as Washington and locally as UW or the U, it is the largest university in the northwestern United States and the oldest public university on the west coast....
 in Seattle, where his daughter Chiwoniso Maraire
Chiwoniso Maraire

Chiwoniso Maraire . Daughter of famed mbira master Dumisani Maraire, she is an accomplished singer, songwriter, and exponent of East African music....
 (also a musician) was born. He remained in the region throughout until 1982, teaching at The Evergreen State College
The Evergreen State College

The Evergreen State College, is an accredited public liberal arts college and is a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges that is located in Olympia, Washington....
 in Olympia, Washington
Olympia, Washington

Olympia is the Capital of Washington and is the county seat of Thurston County, Washington. It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. The population was 44,460 at the 2007 census....
, giving private music lessons, performing in Pacific Northwest cities and in British Columbia
British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's Provinces and territories of Canada and is famed for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu ....
 with several marimba groups he founded.

Maraire returned to Zimbabwe in 1982 to develop an ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology

Ethnomusicology is a branch of musicology defined as "the study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local and global contexts." ...
 program at the University of Zimbabwe
University of Zimbabwe

The University of Zimbabwe in Harare, is the oldest and largest Universities of Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe. It was founded through a special relationship with the University of London and it opened its doors to its first students in 1952....
. Four years later, he was back in Seattle, teaching and earning his own doctorate in ethnomusicology at the University of Washington, after which he returned again to teach at the University of Zimbabwe.

Dumi is credited for his famous 1-15 number notation used on the nyunga nyunga mbira and for notating the song "Chemutengure" on the nyunga nyunga mbira. The song "Chemutengure" is used to teach mbira learners the technique of playing the instrument.(Chirimumimba,2007).

Maraire died of a stroke on November 25, 1999 in Zimbabwe.

Recordings

  • Mbira Music of Rhodesia, Performed by Abram Dumisani Maraire. (1972). Seattle: University of Washington Press, Ethnic Music Series. Garfias, R. (Ed.). 1 LP disc. 33 1/3 rpm. mono. 12 in. UWP-1001. This disc features Maraire exclusively on Nyunga Nyunga mbira. A 12-page booklet by Maraire is included, describing the background, composition, and performance of nyunga-nyunga mbira music.
  • Shona Spirit. (1995). Dumisani Maraire & Ephat Mujuru. Music of the World. ASIN: B000003IT0.
  • Pieces of Africa. (1992). Kronos Quartet. Nonesuch ASIN: B000005J15.
  • Masters of the African Mbira. (2000). Ephat Mujuru & Dumisani Maraire. Arc Music, ASIN: B00003ZL43.


Publications

  • Adzenyah, A.K., Tucker, J.C., & Maraire, D. (1997). Let your voice be heard! Songs from Ghana and Zimbabwe. World Music Press, ISBN 0-937203-75-0.


See also

  • Shona music
    Shona music

    Shona music is the music of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. There are several different types of traditional Shona music including mbira, singing, Hosho and drum ....
  • Music of Zimbabwe
    Music of Zimbabwe

    Zimbabwean music includes folk music and popular music styles, much of it based on the well-known instrument the mbira which is also popular in many other African countries....