REVIEW: A NEW CD FROM KUIMBA!
Salimu! Heshimu! Many Harpers Hallers remember Lark and Kris Bowerman from the magical concert and workshop they presented to us in 1999. Lark played a variety of African harps for us as well as folk harp and taught us a song in Swahili. During the workshop, we had a wonderful time learning about improvisation from Kris and Lark. Lark writes songs in Congo Swahili or Kingwana (a dialect of Swahili that was spoken in the region where Lark was born and raised) and plays all sorts of harps on this new CD, Salimu! Heshimu! (which translates Greet! Honor!) She plays the kinubi (Congolese bow harp), the Tanzania (Nyamwezi cow herder’s harp), the Kalimba (thumb harp) and also the folk harp. Kris adds flutes, recorder, and all kinds of percussion – and both sing.
In the CD booklet they have included the words phonetically in Congo Swahili or Kingwana as well as the English translation. I found myself wanting to sing along to several of the songs and the printed lyrics made that possible. There are also stories or a bit of background for each song. Many of the tracks feature one kind of harp or another, but there are also some great tracks that are primarily percussion. A few of the tracks were recorded in the Congo in 1990, but most were recorded in the Summer and Fall of 2000. Four of the 14 tracks are instrumental, and the rest have singing both by Lark and Kris, with some backup vocals by the Hayfork Village Singers. The general tone of the CD is that of celebration - celebrating life, creativity, and beauty. From the very first track, the syncopation on the kinubi and percussion instruments, and Lark’s clear unaffected voice singing in Swahili establish a mood that is both fresh and new and so ancient that it touches the core of being. This CD is a delight to listen to – get ready to be transported to the forests and jungles of Africa and experience a real sense of the joy of the indigenous people of the Congo.
Kuimba: CD Reviews
REVIEW of Mawingu – I Remember Africa
The creative partnership of Kris and Lark Bowerman is Kuimba. This new CD release of their 1990/91 cassette recording of Mawingu…I Remember Africa, draws its inspiration from Lark’s childhood and youth among the… tribes of Northeastern Zaire [the present day Democratic Republic of Congo – editor’s note]. Images of Africa… the people, plains mountains, clouds and creatures… blend together into a soulful audio-tapestry ranging from magnetic and joyful compositions like Hakuna Matata to mysterious folk-jazz moods like Majesty. The inclusion of personal, on-site recordings made by Lark and Kris of the Forest People [Wambuti] singing and talking at home adds another mythic layer to this multi-dimensional release. Featured on the album are several kinubi (kee noo’ bee), small Zairian [Congolese] bow harps, that create beautiful plucked string sounds, as well as a “conventional” Celtic harp. This is an unusual and sensitively crafted concept album with equal elements of contemporary musical style and “far memory.”
