Virginia Barrett spent six months living with Shona musicians in Zimbabwe, and she will discuss and sign her new book Mbira Maker Blues: a Healing Journey to Zimbabwe (Studio Saraswati - $17.00), a travel memoir recounting her study of the mbira and experiences.  Virginia will demonstrate performance of the mbira, a xyloihone like instrument often accompanied by drumming. 

After hearing Shona inspired music by the original JAKA band from Santa Fe, Virginia Barrett fell in love with the mbira, a sacred instrument of the Shona that is traditionally played to honor and invite ancestor spirits to take possession of spirit mediums and is the center of Shona spirituality.  Virginia spent six months in Zimbabwe studying with master mbira players including Ambuya Beauler, Cosmas and Muda Magaya, Fraderick Mujuru, and Tute Chigamba, and all the songs on her debut CD Show Me the Way were directly inspired by her time in the country.  Living with these musicians and their families during dire times, what she ultimately learns and experiences extends beyond music lessons and ventures into the depths of human love and survival.  What Barrett most poignantly shares with us, however, is the healing wisdom her teachers impart and the sublime beauty they weave through her soul.