Peter Mawanga offers September gift
Lilongwe-based musician Peter Mawanga Wednesday finally released a six-track Extended Playlist (EP) which he described as a gift to the people.
Mawanga has collaborated with United States of America (USA) musician Trevor Bystrom in the EP.
The songs that make up the EP are ‘Katiswe’, ‘Some Day’, ‘Umoyo’, ‘Asleep at Night’, ‘Listen’ and ‘I care for You’.
In the EP, Mawanga and Bystrom have shared high energy global folk groove in the track ‘Katiswe’.
This is not the first time Mawanga has linked with an artist from USA as, in 2011, he released an album titled Mau A Malawi – Stories of Aids in which he collaborated with another artist from USA – Andrew Finn Magill.
Despite managing to work together to release the EP, Mawanga and Bystrom have never been in the same room together.
The project fuses American and Malawian culture into an adventurous, inventive and deep testament to our shared humanity.
Mawanga, who recently performed in Blantyre after a long-time where he shared the stage with fellow Lilongwe act Nyago, said music is a universal language.
“We live in a global village these days and songs have no borders or boundaries,” the ‘Amakhala Ku Blantyre’ star said.
The EP was recorded remotely at Bystrom’s studio in Holmes Beach, Florida, and Mawanga’s studio.
According to Mawanga, the EP is a celebration of connection and unity, mixing traditional Malawian rhythms and instruments – like sansi (thumb piano), visekese (shakers), and valimba (xylophone) – with contemporary American folk and rock music to craft a sound that is at once foreign and familiar, joyful and meditative, playful and profound.
“The songs are all about giving hope to people that the problems will come to pass and that brighter days are coming,” he said.
Mawanga and Bystrom sing about brighter days coming in the track ‘Someday’ where they say people should not lose hope especially with the Covid situation “we are passing through”.
Mawanga and Bystrom split the writing and shared duties in the project which is delivered in both English and Chichewa.
Some of his projects include Nyanja Vibes, City Life and Zanga Zozama.
