Most churches in Zambia do not have their own buildings but meet in schools, homes, or where ever they can find a suitable place. Music is usually sung a cappella, accompanied only by hand clapping. If a church has its own building and has electricity, they will save up to purchase a p.a. system, an electric guitar, a Western-style drum set, and a keyboard. Drums are the primary traditional musical instrument, but because of its association with ancestral ceremonies, few churches use them in their services.
In the past few decades a vibrant local Christian music has developed in Zambia. Almost all of it has been written in the local vernacular languages, with Bemba being the most common. Links to some sites with information on professional Zambian Christian musicians will be found at the bottom of this page.
Below are a number of choruses, recorded at various churches, and saved as mp3 files. You can download them by selecting the button in front of the file name and saving the file to your computer.
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http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3BDF3B858CA70245
This site has links to several Zambian Christian artists.
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/matthewngosa2/from/greatindiemusic Matthew Ngosa is a popular Zambian Christian artist. If you click on the “preview all songs” button, you can hear portions of some of his songs on this album.
http://www.reverbnation.com/bjngosa
Matthew’s brother is B.J. Ngosa, who is also a Christian artist. Here you can sample some of his songs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD4oM5OMH6E
Lumbani Madoda is one of our favorite Christian groups. Here you can hear one of their songs.
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01Nasumbula (Bemba; 2:05min. length; 1.9mb size)
02Takwaba (Bemba; 1:20min. length; 1.2mb size)
03BaYahwe (Bemba; 2:49min. length; 2.6mb size)
04 (Bemba; 2:50min. length; 2.0mb size)
05TakwabaMedley (Bemba; 4:20min. length; 2.0mb size)
06 (Bemba; 5:28min. length; 3.8mb size)
07ImweYahwe (Bemba; 3:53min. length; 2.7mb size)
08Hakuna (Shona, others; 3:34min. length; 3.3mb size)
09GettingBetter (Various; 3:54min. length; 3.6mb size)
