Zvinoshamisa

This trio of South African, Malagasy, and French musicians achieves a rare blend: coherent, uncompromising, sharp, and simply beautiful.  Regis Gizavo, a maverick accordionist and singer from Madagascar, is emerging as one of that country’s most adventurous and versatile roots musicians.  The core of this project is his collaboration with Zimbabwean guitarist Louis Mhlanga.  Mhlanga has a good background in roots music as well, although he has mostly made his name in the South African jazz scene.  Mhlanga is that rare African guitarist who sees the big picture of African guitar.  He has collaborated with guitarists from Mali, Senegal, Congo and more, and has a nuanced sense of the rhythms and phrasing that make each style distinctive.  Percussionist David Mirandon offers just the right jolt of muscle and drive, completing the chemistry without overplaying.

The selections alternate between Mhlanga’s elegant, at times moody meditations (“Zvinoshamisa” and “Distant Lover”) and Gizavo’s tuneful, highly rhythmic pieces “Ho Anareo” and “Eka Lahy”).  Both writers have a gift for melody, and because they have soaked in each others’ rhythmic language so well, the music always feels comfortable, even when fast and tricky.  Mhlanga had never thought of working with an accordion before, but when he met Gizavo, his idea of the instrument transformed.  “For me,” he once said, “rhythm is everything.”  And he instantly saw that few accordionists have such a developed sense of rhythm as Gizavo.  For his part, Gizavo knows when to vamp and when to swell.  He can sound sweet as a summer’s day one minute, and then dig into dark, strident tonalities, as on “Tsika Holy,” the next. 

So many flavors here, and so well blended!  Mhlanga’s “International Rumba” suggests a rumba variant, but his Zimbabwean roots—think Bhundu Boys meet jazz—shine through strongly.  This is among the most satisfying African guitar CDs I’ve heard in a long while.

Contributed by: Banning Eyre for www.afropop.org