Chris Berry

Chris Berry’s existence story appears like it was compiled by a Hollywood script article writer: a white young man from California becomes a grasp of African drumming as well as the mbira thumb piano, and along with his worldbeat fusion music group, Panjea, becomes an African celebrity, offering a million albums in South Africa. Berry was raised a rock and roll & roll child in the north California city of Sebastopol, where he dropped in with several children who got their kicks from shoplifting. As destiny could have it, one particular kids raised a tape from a music shop that ended up being an record by Fela Kuti, and Berry became fascinated with Kuti’s music, hearing it all night on end. Destiny once again intervened when Berry, today 14, fulfilled African drum get good at Titos Sompa, who got resolved in Sebastopol, and Berry became his pupil in the djembe. After graduating from senior high school, Berry followed Sompa to Africa, where he was delivered on the ten-day fishing boat trip in the Congo River to a community where he received additional drum instructions. While surviving in the community, Berry discovered himself continually captivated by the African thumb piano referred to as the mbira, and finally journeyed to Zimbabwe to search out a teacher around the device, finally conference mbira grasp Monderek Muchena and getting his college student, an set up that lasted a decade, during which period Berry perfected the mbira, discovered to speak Shona, and wedded a Zimbabwean female, Rujeko Dumbutshena. He also created the first edition of his genre-defying music group Panjea, as well as the group gained platinum album product sales throughout Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and somewhere else. When Berry and Dumbutshena relocated to america, they formed a fresh edition of Panjea, as well as the music group toured the Says using its high-energy display — a fiery mixture of spirit, R&B, funk, South African jazz, Afrobeat, dancehall, rap, and traditional African mbira and djembe music, all fronted from the charismatic Berry, who sings in both Shona and British. The music group is normally a seven-member construction, but can swell to almost 30 players (including a scorching horn section) at go for displays. A sampling of Chris Berry & Panjea’s many albums, many of them released in South Africa, consist of Vanhu Vamwe (1992), Panjea (1993), Music (1995), Shona Music (1995), Marimba Ava Murewa (1997), Understanding Devoid of Intelligence (1999), Reside in Oz (2000), and a best-of, Root base, which collects materials from 1996 to 2002. Berry in addition has released various other African-themed albums aside from his use Panjea, including HANG ON (using the Old Melody Outfit) and Beats In the Blue. Being a composer, arranger, musician, and powerful performer (he continues to be weighed against everyone from Sting to Bob Marley to Adam Dark brown), Chris Berry is certainly a 21st Hundred years chimera, component hip-hop, component Southern spirit, part California sunlight, and component African gwenyambira, all rolled into one, an inspirational poster youngster for the joyful unification of music and civilizations.