Pop and Jazz Reviews : A No-Flash Mapfumo Warms the Audience

It would be a shame if Thomas Mapfumo’s lack of flash onstage keeps the Zimbabwean singer from the audience his music deserves.

During his hour-plus opening set at the Music Machine on Friday, there were no resounding climaxes, no charismatic outbursts, no catchy choruses, no spectacular solos--in short, none of the customary methods for connecting with an audience.

But Mapfumo and his 11-piece Blacks Unlimited band crafted an insinuating ensemble sound full of intricately interwoven parts that could give mellow music a good name again.

Mapfumo’s chimurenga style is rooted in the traditional music of his Shona tribe. He adapted the melodies of the mbira , a gourd-shaped thumb piano, to electric guitar and retained the traditional sound by prominently featuring two amplified mbiras, each about 15 inches in diameter, in the line-up.

The set alternated between songs driven by tart, tight horn lines and lulling, otherworldly mbira tunes. Nothing in the arrangements belabored a musical point--the drums created drive on little more than high-hat cymbal and syncopated snare shots, the interlocking guitar lines meshed seamlessly, and Mapfumo’s deep voice aimed to soothe more than excite.

Mapfumo was imprisoned for his music during Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle, but there was little trace of the firebrand in his music or performance Friday--he spent most of the set crouched at center stage. Two female backing singers/dancers provided some visual sparks but again in an unusual way--they always seemed to be moving in double time compared to the music.

It took a couple of songs for Mapfumo and band to settle into their comfort zone, but maybe the best measure of the music’s constant inventiveness and appeal was the dance-floor response. It started off empty, then slowly but surely built to capacity as the music permeated the room.