Stella Rambisai Chiweshe is one of the most magnetic figures on the world-music scene.  The only female leader of a band in her native Zimbabwe, she sings her own compositions.  

Known as the Mbira Queen of Zimbabwe, she accompanies herself on the mbira, or thumb piano, described on the liner notes of her latest album, Talking Mbira (Piranha, stellachiweshe.calabashmusic.com), as an instrument constructed of "rows of iron keys, flattened at the playing end, attached to a wooden board and then fixed into a calabash for resonance."

Her songs deal with spirituality, mourning, and social commentary, especially her opposition to colonialism. She is the great-granddaughter of a famous resistance fighter who was executed by the British. 

Her accompaniment is an intriguing blend of traditional instruments (including the mbira and marimbas) as well as modern ones (such as synthesizers and bass guitar).