‘io: mbira abstractions’ teleports an African traditional, echo-logical knowledge to a hypnotic digital cosmos full of resonant bodies: laser sharp and fuzzy, echoes and re-echoes, spaces and vacuums. the archetype repertoire of the mbira dza vadzimu reaches back over seven centuries and beyond into the very fibers at the origin of our species. in the performance and recording process, multiple interlocking kushaura (lead) and kutsinhira (follow) parts form the kernels and inspiration of each segment. the album is a collaboration between David Font and Andrew Mark, who plays all of the mbira parts on the album and constructed several of the instruments himself. the two multi-instrumentalists met during graduate studies in ethnomusicology at Toronto’s York University. (Jon Hassell, the Graceful Architect of Fourth World Music, recorded his landmark album “Vernal Equinox” at York in 1976.) if ethnomusicology is a scientific approach to the world’s musical cultures, ‘io: mbira abstractions’ is musical science fiction. the project began with a live performance at Toronto’s venerable Ambient PiNG on January 28, 2009. all of the shortwave and FM radio transmissions on the album were recorded during that evening’s set. In several instances that were eerily reminiscent of William Burrough’s “Cut-Ups,” transmissions included spoken phrases that were evocative of Zimbabwe’s current humanitarian crisis and instrumental phrases that were in time and in tune with Andrew’s mbira playing. available as a hand-made limited edition and digital download. half of the profits from this release benefit the Kufunda Learning Village outside Harare, Zimbabwe. to learn more about Kufunda, visit their website (www.kufunda.org).