Boka Marimba

Boka Marimba is a nine-member dance band that plays exhilarating, energetic music from Zimbabwe and other areas of southeastern Africa. Much of the music is in the Shona style: melodic themes and variations layered in polyrhythmic, cyclic patterns. Audience members love the joy they experience dancing, watching, and clapping to the music. People of all ages respond with enthusiasm and delight.

The band’s instrumentation consists of seven marimbas (two sopranos, an alto, two tenors, a baritone, and a bass), hosho, mbira, and drums. The songs are sung in the Shona language. In Shona, boka means “group” and marimba is the plural of rimba that means “wooden voice.”

Dumisani “Dumi” Maraire, the late Zimbabwean master musician, composer and ethnomusicologist, brought this music to the Pacific Northwest in the 1960’s. Marian Grebanier formed Boka Marimba in 1987 with a group of people who fell in love with the spirit and sound of this music. Dr. Maraire taught the band a large part of its original repertoire. The band later expanded its repertoire with arrangements from Ephat Mujuru, Paul Mataruse, Tendai Muparutsa, Michael Sibanda, Nathan Beck and others.