Zimbabwe Nkenya recently returned to the St. Louis area from the Southwest, where he became known as one of New Mexico's foremost creative musicians. His ensembles Black Jazz Culture, ZIYA, Contrabass Quartet and African Space Project were regularly featured in venues throughout the state including the Center for Contemporary Arts in Santa Fe and the Outpost Performance Space in Albuquerque.
In addition to his active playing career, Nkenya has also been an educator, playing concerts,workshops and residencies for school children. For some 20 years, he hosted one of New Mexico’s most respected radio shows, KUNM’s Sunday night special, "The House that Jazz Built."
Zimbabwe has performed with some of the finest internationally known musicians on the creative music scene including Ajule Sonny Rutlin, Warren Smith, Ku-umba Frank Lacy, Jerome 'Scrooge' Harris, Julius Hemphill, Rob Brown, Douglas Ewart, Abdul Wadud, William Parker, Fred Ho's Afro-Asian Music Ensemble, Anthony Braxton, Oliver Lake, Daniel Carter, Frank Morgan, Eddie Gale, J A Deane, Floyd LeFlore, Chris Jonas, Mary Redhouse, Bill Cole's Yoruba Proverbs, Jim Marshall and Maurice 'Malik' King. He has played with African singers, dancers & musicians Thuli Dumakude, Linda Tshabalala, Chipo Wakatanda, Duma Ndlovu, Lorraine Mahlangu, Abraham Adzenya, Welcome Msomi, Mohamed Kamara, Nhlanhla Brian Thusi and many others.Zimbabwe has also collaborated with poets Quincy Troupe, Eugene B. Redmond, Linda Piper, Mike'360' Ipiotes, Joy Harjo, Virginia Hampton, Michael Castro, Shirley LeFlore and Arthur Ray Brown.
Zimbabwe has performed at Brooklyn Academy of Music, Lincoln Center, Knitting Factory, NYU, Hunter College, PS 122, and Riverside Church as well as The BRIDE in Philadelphia and One World Festival, Detroit. In New York he was featured in the two-year run of Izulu Dance Theater’s Off-Broadway musical production HALALA, at the Douglas Fairbanks Theater.
"Zimbabwe Nkenya and The New Jazz"
CD Availible at Vintage Vinyl
6610 Delmar Blvd, University City, MO
Reviewer comments:
- Troy Collins, Cadence: The Review of Jazz & Blues: Creative Improvised Music: "Bassist Zimbabwe Nkenya makes his debut with "Zimbabwe Nkenya & The New Jazz", recorded live at The High Mayhem Festival in his home state, New Mexico. Joined by soprano saxophonist Chris Jonas, drummer Dave Wayne, trumpeter Dan Pearlman, and (with) a special guest appearance by alto saxophonist Rob Brown, Nkenya has himself a strong initial release. With a predilection for energetic Free-Bop, Nkenya and his quartet blast through a live set that is invigorating and refreshingly buoyant. Opening and closing with a pair of unaccompanied bass solos, Nkenya demonstrates an affinity for aggressive, but controlled, arco work on the opening piece "Theme for C. T. (Cecil Taylor) and on the closing "Off the GTM (for Anthony Braxton)." His pizzicato work on the other solo pieces, "Africa In Effect, Variations I and II" is reminiscent of the bright mbira lines of his African heritage, as the titles suggest. The quartet pieces are accessible but adventurous Free-Bop with tuneful melodies, and the long trio piece, "Alto Trio," featuring guest artist Rob Brown is an album highlight of free-wheeling improvisation."
- Glenn Astarita, JazzReview.Com: "Zimbabwe Nkenya is a superb New Mexico-based, bass violinist who aligns himself with good company on this live set recorded in Santa Fe. With East Coast alto saxophonist Rob Brown on one track to complement the quartet’s enthusiastic approach to modern jazz improvisation, Nkenya shines as an idea-man whether soloing or laying down the groove.
"He opens the proceedings with an extended arco solo highlighting his lyrical sensibilities, energetic spirit and multifaceted frameworks. On “African Effect," the ensemble kicks it into high-gear atop drummer Dave Wayne’s snappy rim-shots and boogaloo like tom-tom patterns.
"At times the musicians engage in stop/start motifs while affording themselves ample soloing opportunities along with briskly stated unison lines. In other spots, the quartet delves into dark corners and narrow alleyways via a combination of frenetic choruses and tightly integrated movements. Trumpeter Dan Pearlman and soprano saxophonist Chris Jonas trade intense fours as the band covers lots of divergent musical terrain including but not limited to, free-jazz, African rhythmic interludes, free-bop and swing. They even venture into some playful skronk, comprised of turbulent sonic assaults and migrations into the stratosphere.
"Nkenya closes out the set with a dramatic walking and strutting type solo, where he toggles between bowed bass lines and fervent plucking maneuvers. Essentially, he’s conversing with himself under the guise of a dual role. Nonetheless, this is a happening affair, teeming with fertile soundscapes and gobs of impact! (Recommended…)"
- KZSU, 90.1FM: "Nice stuff out of New Mexico. A little more than half of the CD is a band fronted by bassist Nkenya, playing Ornette-like jazz with the occasional free breakdown or pensive improv pause. Well done, and the overtly jazzy segments get cooking. The rest of the CD are solo bass tracks, ear-catching stuff. I'm impressed. The sound fidelity is a bit lacking, but considering High Mayhem is a cool festival in the DIY mode, we should forgive them for not having the snazziest equipment at their fingertips. Hoping to hear lots more from Zimbabwe Nkenya."
- Vital Weekly, Number 511: "ZIMBABWE NKENYA & THE NEW JAZZ (CD by High Mayhem) Some great fresh jazz music from an unknown local talent. Zimbabwe Nkenya is a jazz-musician from St.Louis who settled down in New Mexico, and became an important force in the scene of new jazz music for about thirty years. He played with lots of musicians of international fame like William Parker, Charles Gayle, Julius Hemphill, and many more. He is self-taught and plays upright bass, the African thumb piano (mbira) from time to time, plus more recently the violin. This is his first cd, bringing together live recordings from several occasions. On the one hand we find four solo excercises on bass (and violin?) by Zimbawe from a live performance at The Center for Contemporary Arts. Moving pieces that show his engaged playing and warm sound on the bass. In the other tracks we hear a quartet with Dave Wayne (percussion), Chris Jonas (soprano saxophone), Dan Pearlman (trumpet) plus special guest: Rob Brown (alto saxophone on track 8). Jonas does most of the solos. They are crystal clear and sparkle. The cd counts 10 compositions, all except one by Nkneya. They don't move into any extreme experimental areas within the jazz tradition. Nkenya operates more in the centre of what jazz music can sound like in these days. In most pieces like 'Ornience' the tasks are distributed in a traditional manner between rhythm section and solos by trumpet and saxophone. Concerning this piece, it's not only the title of this piece that refers to Ornette Coleman, but also the music. Other compositions are dedicated to Cecil Taylor and Anthony Braxton. All these points of reference show that Nkenya feels related to a diversity of the latest jazz giants. He knows his classics and with his music he adds his ideas to it, showing that the jazz tradition is still very much alive. Nice work! (DM)"
- Peter Breslin, Santa Fe Reporter: "Nkenya's CD, The New Jazz, captures his inimitable solo bass from a live performance at The Center for Contemporary Arts, as well as excerpts of ensemble work featuring Dan Pearlman on trumpet, Chris Jonas and Rob Brown on saxes and Dave Wayne on Drums. Nkenya's arco playing on bass violin is a choir of otherworldly voices and cries, resonant with double and triple stops, interspersed with muscular phrases articulated gracefully. The bass violin can sometimes be unwieldy, but Nkenya is on sure footing. He often seeks pitches between expected notes and uses the glissandos and the sound of wood and strings to create earthy meditations. The ensemble work features sections of complete group improvisation as well as more traditional rhythm-section-plus-soloist approaches. The impression is indeed of something new, and not derivative even of "New Jazz" or "Free Jazz." Rather, it suggests the transformation of a tradition that is still urgently alive."
- KFJC, on-line Reviews: "First rate out of New Mexico. Nkenya, an extremely able bassist, leads his fine group (bass, drums, trumpet, soprano saxophone) through a smoking live set. He wrote all of the pieces here except one. The group can gallop off into free jazz and improv conversation as well as anyone, but the action always happens within the context of tight, well thought out compositions that know exactly where they are going. Alto saxophonist Rob Brown, out of NYC, sits in with Nkenya and drummer Dave Wayne for a nice long trio excursion on track 8. The set begins (tracks 1 & 2) and ends (tracks 9 & 10) with evocative solo bass work by Nkenya, who even on his own keeps things quite interesting. A group calling itself "The New Jazz" had better be able to deliver something pretty special, and this group does just that. Very satisfying."
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"Zimbabwe Nkenya and The New Jazz," CD liner notes:
"For myself and countless others, the name Zimbabwe Nkenya is pretty much synonymous with authentic and uncompromisingly creative jazz in New Mexico. Whether he’s making music with his usual acoustic bass, the sacred African Mbira he plays or the violin he has more recently taken up, Zimbabwe’s unerring ability to gracefully aid and abet the musicians he is sharing the moment with, while at the same time making manifest the ongoing interior dialog between his own heart and soul, is nothing short of miraculous.
"He would be a major player in whatever city or country he chose to settle in, as demonstrated by the track on this disc under the leadership of the NYC-based altoist, Rob Brown. In fact, the oddest thing about Zimbabwe and The New Jazz is that – with the exception of a very limited-edition live CD of his Mbira quintet, ZIYA – it is the first Zimbabwe Nkenya album to be released.
"Next time, maybe we’ll get some of his incessantly groove-driven African Space Project from the mid-90’s, or the far darker Black Jazz Culture from the late-80’s, or something from one of his annual Ornette Coleman birthday/tribute shows. For the time being, sit back and enjoy this deeply satisfying taste of Zimbabwe Nkenya and The New Jazz."
- David Prince, Words on Music.(David Prince has written about jazz and rock for such publications as Cadence, Ray Gun, The Boston Phoenix, Stereophile, The Santa Fe Reporter, and the MusicHound’s Guide to Jazz. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.)