Mbira music has been used by the Shona people of Zimbabwe in religious and secular ceremonies for over a millennium. The instrument, made of two dozen metal keys mounted on a wood soundboard inside a resonating calabash gourd and played with the thumbs, produces music that combines entrancing melodies with invigorating polyphony and polyrhythms.

Renold and Caution Shonhai are brothers who play the ancient Shona mbira in traditional Zimbabwean ceremonies. Caution, the older of the two, is a traditional healer and herbalist, and is also the medium of their great-grandfather's spirit, allowing him to play in the wonderful style of this great mbira player. The Shonhai brothers respect and follow the Shona traditions that their family has followed, generation after generation. They are also fluent in English, and enjoy sharing their music (mbira, singing, drumming, hosho rattles), dance, and culture.

Berkeley's Erica Azim fell in love with Shona mbira music when she first heard it at the age of 16. In 1974, she became one of the first Americans to study mbira in Zimbabwe, and her teachers have included many of Zimbabwe's top mbira masters past and present, including Forward Kwenda, with whom she has appeared on the Freight stage. Erica currently records, performs, and leads mbira workshops throughout the U.S. and directs the non-profit organization MBIRA, which provides financial support to Zimbabwean mbira players and instrument makers.

Renold & Caution will be teaching a workshop on Traditional Zimbabwean Songs w/ Renold & Caution Shonhai on Sunday, August 15, 1:30-3:00. Erica will be teaching Introduction to Zimbabwean Mbira, also on Sunday, August 15, 3:30-5:30 pm.

Visit Mbira.org for information on Renold & Caution

Visit Mbira.org for information on Erica

Listen to a track from Renold & Caution Shonhai: