Cris Gera: Music in Me / Nziyo Dziri Mandiri

The singer-songwriter Cris Gera recorded his latest album, Music In Me/Nziyo Dziri Mandiri, in 2016, but more than three years passed before its release. The eight-track collection is a lively Afro-jazz/pop/R&B mix about love, hope and the challenges of everyday life in Zimbabwe, but a ninth song recorded separately and released only on social media grabbed the spotlight, eliciting death threats … More Cris Gera: Music in Me / Nziyo Dziri Mandiri

Mokoomba: Luyando

The first album from the Zimbabwean band Mokoomba, released in 2012, was a rock-oriented disk with an urban, pan-African orientation. But tradition was embedded in the group’s name—Mokoomba means “respect for the river”—and their second album, Luyando (Mother’s Love), is a gentler, more acoustic collection devoted to the history and culture of the band’s home territory, the Zambezi river valley. Built on the vibrant voice of lead singer Mathias Muzaza (singing mostly in Luvale and Tonga … More Mokoomba: Luyando