Hearing marimba music for the first time at a folk festival inspired Marimba Muzuva's founding members to research and build their own marimbas, becoming the first Canadian group to play this music. They quickly sought out teachers and were fortunate to learn from musicians from Zimbabwe, South Africa and the United States, including Dumisani Maraire (the man responsible for introducing Zimbabwean music to the Pacific Northwest). Not content to stop there, the group travelled to Zimbabwe to gain a deeper understanding ot the music and culture. Today, the origins of the music are palpable in every performance.

Marimba Muzuva features soprano, tenor, baritone and bass marimbas (wooden xylophones); mbira (thumb piano); hosho (gourd shakers); ngoma (hand drum); and drum kit. The band also composes original music and performs maghavu (leg shaker) dances and South African gumboot dances.

Why do eager North American crowds gather to experience marimba music? What possible link could a group of musicians from Canada's wet and windy coast have with the exotic, sun-dappled music of Zimbabwe? The answer can be found in the music itself. It makes the world smaller, there becomes here, and everyone connects - with each other, with the rhythm of the earth and with the nurturing energy of the sun. In fact, it is impossible to hear the sound of the marimbas and NOT be transplanted to the sun and colour of distant land.

Marimba Muzuva means "Wooden Voices in the Sun", the title of their first CD.

Performance Highlights
Edge of the World Festival (Haida Gwaii/ Queen Charlotte Is.) South Country Fair (Fort Macleod, AB) World Next Door Festival (Winnipeg) Islands Folk Festival (Duncan) Vancouver Island MusicFest (Courtenay) Victoria Folk Fest Victoria Jazz Fest Brandon Folk Festival Harrison Festival of the Arts	Zimbabwean Music Festivals (Canada and US) International Buskers Festival (Victoria) Fringe Festival (Victoria) Hermann's Jazz Club (Victoria) Community dances and nightclubs (throughout BC) Art Starts in Schools (tours of more than 1000 schools throughout BC) 1994 Commonwealth Games (Victoria)

References
Doug Cox, Artistic Director Vancouver Island MusicFest Box 338 Cumberland, BC, V0R 1S0 250-336-7981 dougcox@shaw.ca	Brent Hutchinson, Artistic Co-ordinator The Islands Folk Festival PO Box 802 Duncan, BC, V9L 3Y1 250-748-4330 artists@folkfest.bc.ca	Tracy Summers, Artistic Director Victoria Folk Festival World Next Door Festival (Winnipeg) 930 Balmoral Road Victoria, BC, V8T 1A8 250-414-0006 tracy@tnt-productions.com

Reviews "Marimba Muzuva stole the show at last year's festival with their lively and infectious melodies and beats." -Vancouver Island MusicFest "By far the best show I've ever seen . . . They held the audience in the palm of their hand." -Glen McKinnon, Murrayville Elementary School "A band that has always exploded with life on the stage" -Paul Novitski, Dandemutande Magazine
Muzuva Members
Robert Dill Rick Palmer Dean Samuel	Ted Wright Andrea Rutz Dalton Wilcox