A group of 11 Swedes - four males and seven females - tickled the Maru a Pula Marimbas, sang in Shona and other languages, played drums and danced, with wonderful enthusiasm.
Zimba Marimba is both the name of the group and the name of the instruments they play in Sweden.
The Zimba Marimbas or African Xylophones have been hand made in Sweden for the last 20 years by the late Olof Alexsson, an ethnomusicologist, who derived his designs from the timbila instruments found among the Chopi people of Mozambique.
They are superior to the marimbas used at Maru a Pula, as they are finely tuned and have incorporated into each instrument, sounding gourds or resonators that give additional vibrations and a buzz. They are also made of Mukwa from Zimbabwe or Padauk from West Africa.
It was nice to hear different types of music from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, West Africa and Botswana from the Swedes.
In Sweden, hundreds of people have learned to play the Zimba Marimbas from the Axelssons. Peta Axelsson was in Botswana and at Maitisong on Thursday night with her group of young performers from Sweden.
If only the Maru a Pula groups should play with the verve that the Swedes exhibited.
When asked to dance, from a large audience, only two young women could come forward. What a sedate crowd.
They got to present eight of their pieces and two Maru a Pula School marimba groups presented 12. Not quite fair to Zimba Marimba who was given star billing in the promotion of the concert. Though at the end, the groups did play together.
The Maru a Pula School junior players could have been left out, then the evening would have been more balanced-but the concert was enjoyed by those present.
