User:Albinombie

Albino Mbie was born in Maputo, Mozambique, a country in southern Africa known for its rich musical and cultural heritage. Taken by the sounds of neighborhood street musicians just over a decade ago, he began to pursue the guitar at the age of 16. With the resourcefulness and determination that characterize Mozambicans, he built his first guitar from a 5-liter can of oil, scrap wood for a neck and cords strung over an electric cord.

Mbie currently resides in Boston, Massachusetts, where he is a student at the Berklee College of Music. He was also selected to participate in the Berklee Global Jazz Institute, which is directed by Danilo Perez.

His compositions and performances incorporate his musical experiences from Mozambique, the U.S. and many other places around the world, combining rhythmic patterns and musical concepts to create a unique Afro-Jazz sound.

Albino Mbie"s original composition "Mozambique Dance" was recorded by Jazz Revelation Records (a student-run record label at the Berklee College of Music) for the 8th annual album released in 2011. He has performed in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Italy, US and Mexico, as well as produced and recorded various project in Mozambique and in the United States.

My Music

My musical background is based in traditional rituals, and traditional music from the North and South of Mozambique. This music often involves dance, the human voice, and a number of mostly percussive instruments. At the same time, I was also exposed to Protestant church music as well as pop music coming from every corner of the world. I grow up in a neighborhood where families were practicing traditional music and rituals. I did not get involved in any kind of professional training, but music was part of my life. I used to play percussion for a dance competition in my neighborhood. It was very pleasing to see people enjoying

what I was doing as a percussionist. However, I never thought that I was practicing any kind of art. I was an ordinary kid in my neighborhood. My father moved to Johannesburg in South Africa for work and I stayed behind with my mother. She loves singing church songs and I usually joined her to sing “Mala Mala.” Mala Mala is a Protestant church songbook. I was curious if I had any musicians in the family; my mother said that my uncle was a musician, but he lived far away and I never got a chance to meet him. Still, I wanted to learn more about music, so I got a private instructor in guitar and I sold ice cream in order to pay for my lessons. My private instructor taught me for four weeks and then told me I was ready to learn on my own. I practiced for two more years and then gained a scholarship to Berklee College of Music. When I compose music, I feel I have an opportunity to share what Mozambican and African music have to offer to the rest of the world. Therefore, my music is mainly characterized by the use of very distinctive traditional Mozambican and African rhythm patterns. The main reason why I came to Berklee is to strengthen my knowledge of harmony, and absorb other musical influences like jazz and Western classical music. Jazz harmony plays a huge role in my compositions, especially the use of hybrids and upper structure chords. By using jazz chords my music gains another face worldwide. Usually I use Mozambican melody lines, with a jazz-­‐inspired use of tension that breaks the simple African melodies. I use approach notes, and direct and indirect resolution inspired by jazz music. By being at Berklee I have met musicians from all over the world and I now want to make fusion in terms of instrumentation. In my music, I use bass, drums, piano, voice, Mbie 4 and guitars as normal instrumentation. I have also added cello, violin, harp, and Indian percussion instruments as part of the fusion instrumentally. I tend to make my music easy to listen to by not using very complex melodies, rhythms, or chords. I use very catchy melody lines and sweet harmony forms.

Link to the Albino's website. http://www.albinombie.com

 Berklee This user attends or attended Berklee College of Music.