Abraham Dumisani Maraire (27 December 1944 – 25 November 1999), known to friends as "Dumi", was a Zimbabwean musician. He was a master performer of the ''

mbira Mbira ( ; ) are a family of musical instruments, traditional to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. They consist of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered metal Tine (structural), tines, played by holding the instrument ...

'', a traditional instrument of the

Shona people The Shona people () also/formerly known as the Karanga are a Bantu peoples, Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa, primarily living in Zimbabwe where they form the majority of the population, as well as Mozambique, South Africa, and world ...

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

. He specialized in the form of ''mbira'' called ''nyunga nyunga'', as well as the Zimbabwean

marimba The marimba ( ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the mari ...

. He introduced

Zimbabwean music Zimbabwean music is heavily reliant on the use of instruments such as the mbira, Ngoma drums and hosho. Their music symbolizes much more than a simple rhythm, as the folk and pop style styled music was used as a symbol of hope for Zimbabweans ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, initiating a flourishing of Zimbabwean music in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

that continues into the 21st century.John Ross, "Dumisani Maraire", ''Seattle Metropolitan'', December 2008, p. 76. Maraire is credited for his famous 1–15 number notation used on the ''nyunga nyunga'' mbira and for notating the song "Chemutengure" on the ''nyunga nyunga'' mbira. The song "Chemutengure" is used to teach mbira learners the technique of playing the instrument.

Biography

Maraire was born in

Mutare Mutare, formerly known as Umtali until 1982, is the capital and largest city in the province of Manicaland. It is the third most populated in Zimbabwe. Having surpassed Gweru in the 2012 census, with an urban area, urban population of 224,802 ...

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

(now Zimbabwe). He began learning music from family members, and later at the

college of music A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; ) is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council claimed it to be about ...

. Maraire taught from 1968 through 1972 at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

.Carole Beers, Sara Jean Green
"`Dumi' Maraire Gave Northwest Sweet Taste Of African Marimba"
(obituary), ''Seattle Times'', 26 November 1999. He remained in Washington state until 1982, teaching at

Evergreen State College The Evergreen State College is a public liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington. Founded in 1967, it offers a non-traditional undergraduate curriculum in which students have the option to design their own study towards a degree or follow a ...

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington. It had a population of 55,605 at the 2020 census, making it the state of Washington's 23rd-most populous city. Olympia is the county seat of Thurston County, and the central city ...

, giving private music lessons, and performing in cities of the Pacific Northwest and in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

with several marimba groups he founded. Maraire returned to Zimbabwe with his family in 1982 to develop an

ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology is the multidisciplinary study of music in its cultural context. The discipline investigates social, cognitive, biological, comparative, and other dimensions. Ethnomusicologists study music as a reflection of culture and investiga ...

program at the

University of Zimbabwe The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) is a public university in Harare, Zimbabwe. It was opened in 1952 as the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and was initially affiliated with the University of London. It was later renamed the Univers ...

Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

. Four years later, he was back in Seattle, teaching and earning his own

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in ethnomusicology at the University of Washington, after which he returned again to teach at the University of Zimbabwe. He died of a stroke on 25 November 1999 in Zimbabwe.

Legacy and children

Maraire has been credited with having "inspired thousands of Americans to explore Shona culture by building and performing on mbiras and marimbas, providing a vivid example with his own family". Some of his North American students created a Zimbabwean music festival (now called "Zimfest") which has taken place annually since 1991. Several of his children have also had successful musical careers. The late Chiwoniso Maraire was described as the "Zimbabwe mbira queen" and "a true ambassador of the Zimbabwean culture". Dumisani Maraire, Jr. performs under the stage name Draze; Tendai Maraire is part of hip hop duos

Shabazz Palaces Shabazz Palaces is an American hip hop group from Seattle led by Ishmael Butler a.k.a. Palaceer Lazaro (formerly Butterfly of jazz rap group Digable Planets). Much of Butler's work as Shabazz Palaces has been made in collaboration with multi ...

and Chimurenga Renaissance; and Zhiyanai Maraire performs as ZNi International.

Discography

* ''Mbira Music of Rhodesia'', performed by Abram Dumisani Maraire (1972). Seattle: University of Washington Press, Ethnic Music Series. Garfias, R. (ed.). 1 LP disc. 33 rpm. mono. 12 in. UWP-1001. This disc features Maraire exclusively on Nyunga Nyunga mbira. A 12-page booklet by Maraire is included, describing the background, composition, and performance of nyunga-nyunga mbira music. * ''Dumi and the Marire Marimba Ensemble (1978-1979). Chiwoniso Music of Zimbabwe. OXO Studios, Seattle, WA.. * ''Chaminuka'' (1989). Dumi's first commercial recording on CD.

Music of the World Music of the World is a World music record label that was active from 1982 to 2000. The company produced over 100 CDs and cassettes of traditional and contemporary artists from around the world. Nomad and Latitudes were imprint labels. ''Music of ...

. *''Shona Spirit'' (1995). Dumisani Maraire & Ephat Mujuru. Music of the World. ASIN: B000003IT0
Amazon.com
*'' Pieces of Africa'' (1992).

Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classical musi ...

. Nonesuch ASIN: B000005J15
Amazon.com
*''Masters of the African Mbira'' (2000). Ephat Mujuru & Dumisani Maraire. A licensed compilation of various tracks from (

) recordings. Arc Music, ASIN: B00003ZL43
Amazon.com

Publications

* Adzenyah, A. K., Tucker, J. C., & Maraire, D. (1997). ''Let Your Voice Be Heard! Songs from Ghana and Zimbabwe.'' World Music Press,
Amazon.com

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maraire, Dumisani 1944 births 1999 deaths Zimbabwean musicians