Stop Over

Zimbabwean mbira player and singer Nasibo Mutize met French guitarist-pianist Raphaël Joly (aka Zigwiton) in the latter's adopted home of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2021. It was the first of many ‘stop-overs’ that fuelled a long-distance collaboration and inspired this debut release. The resulting sound is very much in the realm of Zimbabwe-leaning Afrosoul with pop and jazz elements – more akin to Mtukudzi than Mapfumo. Although Mutize's mbira and hosho (rattles) patterns do somewhat inform the shape of the music, most of the time they sort of fade into the background once all the other instruments are layered on top. It is her rich, smooth voice (singing in Shona, English and French) that shines and brings everything together; while the bass of producer dbClifford stands out, too, for its lovely tone and interesting lines. All told, Stop Over is light’n’easy summer music: a pleasant listen, nothing too challenging, but nothing particularly remarkable either.