October 9, 2010
Kalimba Magic NEWS
Introducing Kalimbas Day with a 20% Off Sale
How the Kalimba Got to the New World
Back in grade school, I was taught the cheery legend of a heroic Christopher Columbus sailing the oceans blue to "discover" America. Of course, the sad truth is that Christopher Columbus came to the New World to claim the Americas for Spain, with a colonization imperative that required disposal of the current residents of the land. The indigenous peoples who welcomed the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa Maria from their shores, bearing flowers and good will, were in for a horrible awakening. Columbus' soldiers were responsible for atrocities that paralleled those committed by the slave traders in Africa... So dear friends, Kalimba Magic does not celebrate Columbus Day. Instead, we are introducing a new healing holiday: KALIMBAS Day!
For all of Kalimbas Day weekend, we are having a 20% off sale, today through Monday (Oct. 9-11, 2010). Just use the coupon code KalimbasDay when you order online. If your order is more than $400, you can get 25% off with the coupon code KalimbasDay400
It is not clear exactly when kalimbas first came to the New World, but it was the slave trade that brought them. People of African ancestry in Brazil had established a tradition of kalimba making and playing (alongside the better-known tradition of berimbau) by 1795, when you can see them in paintings.
A kalimba also found its way to New Orleans, known as the marimba brett. There is documentation of it in the 19th century, but somehow it died out in both Brazil and New Orleans by the late 19th century.
In the Caribbean, people of African descent brought their kalimba technology with them, where they made both small sized kalimbas and also large bass kalimbas called marimbulas or rhumba boxes, using the metal strapping from rum barrels as the tine material. Early calypso music used the rhumba box instead of an upright bass, and on the cover of the Jolly Boy's first record from the 1940s is a large rhumba box with the bass player sitting on it. By then, the kalimba and rhumba box had probably been in the Carribean for over 200 years. The Jolly Boys still play, using the rhumba box for bass - check out their video of "Rehab".
In the late 19th century, many collectors brought kalimbas back from Africa to museums in Europe. There were isolated incidents of Americans returning from Africa with kalimbas or mbiras in the early and mid 20th century, but the next major influx of kalimbas into the New World came after Hugh Tracey founded African Musical Instruments in 1954 and the Hugh Tracey kalimba was developed.
Since 2005, Kalimba Magic has been enthusiastically promoting kalimbas in the New World and beyond. This year we claim the second Monday in October as a day in which we honor the oppressed (versus their oppressors) who have brought us the kalimba.
Happy Kalimbas Day from Kalimba Magic!
—Mark Holdaway, Kalimba Magic, October 9 2010
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