The vibrant and animated African music and dance group Chinyakare Ensemble welcomes special guests Jacob Mafuleni and Martha Thom from Zimbabwe in its performance tonight. Mafuleni and Thom created a sensation last year when they visited Ashkenaz as members of the band Mbira dzeMuninga. They will open the evening with traditional njari (a type of mbira) drumming and dancing. After a short break, they will join the nearly 20 musicians and dancers of Chinyakare on stage.

Chinyakare Ensemble uses its colorful performances for “creating community through music and dance.” It boasts a collection of diverse and experienced musicians from both Africa and the U.S. under the direction of Zimbabwean dancer and musician Julia Tsitsi Chigamba, who started the group when she moved to Oakland in 2001. True to its name, “deep traditional,” the ensemble represents traditional music and dance from Shona, Ndebele, and other tribal groups from around Zimbabwe. Some of the main instruments the Chinyakare Ensemble plays are mbira, hosho (shakers), ngoma (drums), marimbas, and chipendani (mouth bow). Its performances feature the complex weaving of all of these instruments into beautiful melodies and polyrhythms that are still performed regularly at spiritual ceremonies throughout Zimbabwe.