No Land's Man
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Abstract
No Land’s Man is a full-length album and artistic exploration of cultural identity, heritage, and musical synthesis. Born and raised in Zimbabwe but of European descent, I navigate the tension of not fully identifying with either African or Western culture. This project merges traditional Zimbabwean mbira music and African percussion with contemporary jazz composition and improvisation, seeking to create a new musical language rooted in reverence and authenticity. Rather than presenting a traditional or superficial fusion, I aimed to integrate African sounds as essential compositional elements while reflecting my personal experience of cultural ambiguity. The process involved the construction of a custom chromatic mbira to extend the instrument’s harmonic possibilities. The resulting nine-track album marks the beginning of a lifelong journey to foster musical dialogue between traditions and communities and has been transformative both artistically and personally.
Publication Date
7-1-2025
Campus
Boston Campus
Recommended Citation
Greenwood, Matt. “No Land's Man.” Master's thesis, Berklee College of Music, 2025. https://remix.berklee.edu/graduate-studies-global-jazz/182.