Black Umfolosi: Washabalal’ Umhlaba / Earth Song

Black Umfolosi: Washabalal’ Umhlaba / Earth Song

February 23, 2021

Headwaters of Identity Listening Post 291. The Zimbabwean ensemble Black Umfolosi takes its name from a river in South Africa’s Kwa-Zulu Natal Province, whence the group’s ancestors migrated almost 200 years ago. And though the zigzagging riverbed has been mostly dry...
Nobuntu: Obabes beMbube

Nobuntu: Obabes beMbube

September 11, 2019

Inland Surfing Listening Post 218. Zimbabwe is a landlocked country but in Nobuntu it may have found its waves—warm, rolling a cappella tides that wash over the soul. Nobuntu means “Mothers of Compassion” and Obabes beMbube (Women of Mbube) is the third—and perhaps...