Chris Berry

Chris Berry

Chris Berry is a singer-songwriter from Kingston upon Hull, United Kingdom, and is associated with the Leeds-based group The Chris Berry Band. He is a master of the mbira, or thumb piano, and the ngoma drum, and his work is rooted in Shona music from Southern Africa.

Background and training

Born in 1959, Berry begins studying music with Titos Sompa at the age of 13 and leaves for Africa at 18 to continue his studies. He first arrives in Brazzaville in Congo, then moves to Harare in Zimbabwe after developing a strong interest in Zimbabwean mbira music. In Harare, he studies for ten years under mbira master Monderek Muchena.

Shona music and recognition

Berry earns the title of gwenyambira, a designation given to performers who achieve a high level of technical and spiritual mastery in Shona music. He becomes one of the first Westerners to be accepted by elder mbira masters as one of their own. He also performs at ceremonies where possession occurs, and his music is described as part of a spiritual tradition in which ancestors speak through participants.

Recording work

Berry records with the band Panjea, and those releases reach platinum sales in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. After more than a decade living in Africa, he settles back in America, where he continues the direction suggested by the ancestral messages he says he receives.