Celebrate the new album from Chartwell Dutiro, Dendre Ngoma ( Music Nest) with a concert at the ICIA (Institute Of Contemporary Interdisciplinary Arts) ARTS THEATRE, University Of Bath, Thursday 11th march at 8pm. Chartwell will be fronting Spirit Talk Mbira a vibrant seven-piece, multi-national dance band fronted by singer and master mbira player Chartwell Dutiro. They combine softly propulsive mbira rhythms with drums, bass, guitar, hypnotic vocals and elements of Western music to create a sound that is infectious, raw and irresistible.
“ I am very excited to be playing at ICIA and performing our new material for the first time. The ICIA is an inspirational place for artists, practitioners and academics and I hope this gig will sow the seeds for a continuing working relationship with the centre in the future,” says Chartwell.
The new album DENDERE NGOMA (MUSIC NEST) is a celebration of the partnership of Chartwell Dutiro (Mbira, vocals and arrangements), Max de Wardener (Bass) and Christopher Morphitis (Guitar), who have spent 13 years working together as the group SPIRIT TALK MBIRA. Together they form a multi-national group that draws on Chartwell Dutiro’s years of living in rural Zimbabwe and encourages people to make links between traditional and contemporary Zimbabwe, and life in Britain today.
Chartwell Dutiro and his diverse band use Mbira Music as a tool to reflect on the commonalities that hide behind visible differences such as skin tone. By using the Mbira as an instrument of education, the band can encompass both traditional and contemporary perspectives, challenge stereotypes and encourage creative engagement. History, culture and identity, geographic location and environment are all drawn out through the study of construction and playing.
For the performance, Spirit Talk Mbira will be joined by Laurence Corns - guitar, Tom Skinner – drums, Denise Rowe - mbira, vocals and dance and Cecilia Ndlovu - vocals and dance.
Chartwell Dutiro grew up in Zimbabwe playing Mbira for all night ritual ceremonies and public performances, and is now regarded as a World-Class soloist and ensemble member. He toured the world for eight years as mbira player, saxophonist and arranger with the internationally acclaimed THOMAS MAPFUMO AND THE BLACKS UNLIMITED. Moving to the UK, he formed SPIRIT TALK MBIRA in 1997.
“Hypnotic, gently ambiguous rhythms..utterly beguiling.” The Times
In addition to the performance, Chartwell will be running a singing workshop in Studio 1, at ICIA on Wednesday 10 March, 6 – 8pm. Under Dutiro’s inspiring direction, learn Chaminuka, a traditional Shona song and find out about the country’s music, culture and life.
For more information about Chartwell, please visit his website.
MUSICIAN
Chartwell is a singer, composer and instrumentalist who specialises in traditional Shona music. He grew up in Zimbabwe playing Mbira for all night ritual ceremonies and public performances, and is now regarded as a World-Class soloist and ensemble member.
From 1986 to 1994 Chartwell toured the world and recorded multiple albums with the legendary THOMAS MAPFUMO AND THE BLACKS UNLIMITED. He subsequently formed his own multi-national acoustic ensemble SPIRIT TALK MBIRA, a high-energy dance band, which tours regularly.
Chartwell is a WOMAD FOUNDATION recommended artist, and often collaborates and performs with the SERONA STRING QUARTET. He is also an ARTIST IN RESIDENCE at the UNIVERSITY OF BATH, 2010.
RECENT RECORDINGS and CDs
DENDERE NGOMA (Music Nest) with Spirit Talk Mbira, 2010
CHIVARAIDZE MBIRA MUSIC with international Mbira players
TAANERIMWE – Chartwell Dutiro with Spirit Talk Mbira live at Gateway Studios, 2007
TATENDA – MBIRA MUSIC OF ZIMBABWE. Distributed by Sterns Africa, 2005
TV, FILM & THEATRE CREDITS
CHIMP WEEK – Composer for BBC1 Documentary, 2006.
BREAKFAST WITH MUGABE – Composer and Performer.
ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY. Directed by Anthony Sher. Stratford-Upon-Avon and The West End, 2005 / 2006. A radio version of the play won Silver in the coveted BBC Drama Awards (2007).
PRISON GRADUATES – Choir Director for International Award Winning Play from Ghana;
BBC WORLD SERVICE DRAMA – Director of Music, 2009
TIRIVANA VE VHU “WE ARE CHILDEN OF THE SOIL” – Chartwell features in a Zimbabwean Music Documentary by Independent Film makers Ben and Leo Clough, 2009
MUSIC TEACHING
Chartwell teaches Mbira, dance, percussion and singing in community and school settings nationally and internationally.
He is the founder of the long running INTERNATIONAL MBIRA GATHERINGS, which occur throughout the year and include ZIMBABWE IN DEVON, CLAN MBIRA SCOTLAND, MBIRA MU BAKU (MBIRA IN THE CAVES) in Seuilly, France, MBIRA PA GUNGWA (MBIRA BY THE SEA) and MBIRA MU GOMO (MBIRA IN THE MOUNTAINS), a new gathering in the Kootenay Mountains, Canada, starting in May 2010.
He has taught at WOMAD, THE TRIBE OF DORIS, DRUM VILLAGE: Glen Isla Scotland, PLYMOUTH MUSIC ZONE, TAKE ART!, DARTINGTON PLUS and the CREDITON RURAL ARTS MUSIC PROJECT CREATIVE FACTORY WORKSHOPS, in conjunction with QUEEN ELIZABETH COMMUNITY COLLEGE and THE GUILDHALL.
CHOIRS: Chartwell works with many choirs, including VOICE HOUSE; Song Works (Edinburgh) BIG SKY; The Voice Project (Norfolk), AMABILE AND POCO GIRLS CHOIR (Cumbria) and HEARTBEAT (Suffolk).
WORLD MUSIC, DIVERSITY and COMMUNITY LECTURING
LECTURER in AFRICAN SHAMANISM AND CULTURE at the SCHOOL OF ORIENTAL AND AFRICAN STUDIES. He held the coveted position of Arts and Humanities Research Board Resident Performer-Researcher in 2003.
Chartwell lectures on WORLD MUSIC, DIVERSITY and COMMUNITY MUSIC at many Universities, including SOUTH DEVON COLLEGE (Lecturer in Performing Arts), PLYMOUTH UNIVERSITY (Lecturer in Ethnomusicology), EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY, OXFORD BROOKES, BOURNEMOUTH COLLEGE, SOAS, UNIVERSITY OF WEST OF ENGLAND and at the DARTINGTON UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, Falmouth.
He also teaches in primary and secondary schools, both independently and under the umbrella of the DEVON ARTS IN SCHOOLS INITIATIVE (DAISI), as a recommended artist for the NORFOLK SCHOOL ADVISORY SERVICE and for WREN (Folk Music).
PUBLICATIONS
ZIMBABWEAN MBIRA MUSIC ON AN INTERNATIONAL STAGE: Chartwell Dutiro’s Life In Music
ed. Keith Howard and Chartwell Dutiro. SOAS Musicology Series. Published by Ashgate, 2007
FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND
A children’s Zimbabwean fable written with West Country Poet Miriam Darlington.
To be published by Barefoot (International Independent Children’s publisher).
