Virginia Mukwesha visits austria / Windhund Zimbabwe Rewind

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Created: Wednesday, 18 June 2003 00:00

In autumn 2002,  the Austrian musician Otto Lechner and  "Windhund" group visited the Tonga area and performed during the Summer Jazz Festival in Harare to promote the Tonga.Online project.  Half a year later the "Windhund Zimbabwe Rewind" programme presented an account of impressions and samples of music from their Zimbabwe tour in Austria. They were joined by Virginia Mukwesha and her Mbira-Trio from Harare, who are quite popular for their fusion of traditional and contemporary music styles.

The programme started at Gasthaus Vorstadt in Vienna with a kind of warm up and first encounter of Otto Lechner, Karl Ritter and their guests from Zimbabwe. This concert was staged in collaboration with the Vienna Integration House to air the plight of immigrants and to promote its "Caravan-Project" for left-alone under-age refugees. Virginia, Chidodo and Ephraim together with Dr. Haydar Sari from Viennas Cultural department visited the Integration House and held a workshop there the next day. 

The highlight of the week was the concert at Porgy & Bess Jazzclub in downtown Vienna. The venue was packed with an enthusiastic crowd cheering the reflections on Tonga Ngoma Buntibe music and the fusion of Mbira and Windhund sounds. Otto Lechner had invited some Windhund friends to establish a full brass section in his group which came up with some improvised Nyele horns like music lines.  Thomas Schneider projected video loops on stage creating a visual connection with daily life and music in Tonga area. A display of photographs by Melissa Coleman and Peter Kuthan recalled the Zimbabwe tour in the foyer.

The following week Virginia and her trio visited HAK Auhof Basket Company and International School LISA in Linz /Auhof, the two schools collaborating with and promoting the Tonga.Online project since its inception. Eventually the Windhund Zimbabwe Rewind Programme came to an end at Wirtshaus Pammer in Upper Austria's countryside: Virginia Mukwesha and her trio featured "Windhund" Melissa Coleman whose superb cello improvisations matched well with traditional mbira and ngoma tunes.

We would like to thank all musicians, funding agencies, sponsors and collaborating partners for their efforts and contributions. Twalumba! AZFA + Windhundrecords

See pictures of the tour taken at Porgy&Bess (by Dietmar Lipkovich) and at Wirtshaus Pammer (by Peter Kuthan)

Windhundrecords have just released a new CD: "Mwapona Windhund" an acoustic account of their journey in Zimbabwe; see more and order your copy at: www.windhundrecords.com
Another CD with sound samples of "Windhund Zimbabwe Rewind" will follow soon.