If we had known we would meet royalty while in Zambia, we might have dressed up a bit.
Arriving in the 700 year old Mukuni village outside Livingstone, sound engineer Martin Appleby and I were led through a tiny thatched hut and met by the Palace Choir singing a welcome song in two lines like a sort of guard of honour for us. As it turns out this was also the signal to the 'palace' that we were approaching.
The palace as it turned out was yet another little thatched hut behind a straw wall, filled with animal skins, some slightly out of place large armchairs and the Chief himself in full regalia on his mahogany carved throne.
We knelt and clapped our hands twice as we had been shown and were graciously offered a seat and a brief audience. Next, after more kneeling and clapping while simultaneously trying not to get tangled in our quickly assembled microphone cables, we were taken to see the Female Choir perform their ritual beer brewing dance, a subject we were instantly more familiar with. High energy drumming....high energy re-enacting of pounding the grains with huge poles......was all egged on by two impressively vital old ladies of the village - ululating, dancing and blowing whistles with great gusto.
At the other end of the village we met The Mukoni School choir. They were equally impressive and an advert for modern Zambia singing a polished selection of songs in four part-harmony all conducted by a very dapper student conductor complete with white conducting gloves.
Finally, but not least, we were taken down to the spectacular Victoria Falls viewing area where one of the last remaining great malimba (xylophone) players had his pitch playing for tourists. Few people least of all his fellow Zambians were aware of the talent and importance of this 85 year old for Zambia's musical heritage. He played outside the curios market where traders were eagerly pressing tourists to buy mementos of their trip. Not perhaps the dignified old age enjoyed by his Chief but by village standards probably a viable way to make a living.
