The Soul of Mbira (side A)

1973's The Soul of Mbira dates from when the country of Zimbabwe was still called Rhodesia.  It documents four different regional mbira traditions.  While westerners typically find mbiras as small planks of wood, they were traditionally mounted inside of gourds for resonance.  The music is consistently uplifting and happy without feeling heavy-handed.  Vocals and shakers called hosho often accompany the mbira.  At times on this recording, the hosho overpower the mbira—the illogically bright mastering job on my 80s repress unfortunately amplifies this problem.  While the detailed liner notes are informative, I wish the musician images on the back cover were somehow larger.