For five long, lyrical days last month, the lively pulsating music of Zimbabwe echoed in the hallways of South Whidbey Community Center. Inside Room 125, home of the Rubatano Center, a band called Pamwe Marimba pounded out their first CD, occasionally glancing at the chalkboard edict: Listen Twice as Hard as You Play.

Ensconced in a classroom turned recording studio with sound-proofing blankets and shaded windows, the ensemble of eight young adults who had traveled from five states pursued their percussive passion for hours on end.

Call it eat, sleep, play. Marimba marimba marimba.

“It’s the coolest music in the world,” declared Caden Davis, a 25-year-old graduate student at Western Washington University who has commuted from Bellingham to teach marimba classes at Rubatano the past two years. “It’s so high energy, highly rhythmic, and just fun.”

Although none of the musicians grew up on Whidbey Island, it’s serving as their incubator through Langley resident Dana Moffett, founder of Rubatano Center where she’s taught classes for all ages and hosted musicians from Zimbabwe since 2003.

“I’ve known all of them through the years through marimba camps and concerts,” Moffett said of the Pamwe members. “This year, they needed recording opportunities. And a recording studio budget is big. So I figured a way for them to hole up for five days.”

South Whidbey Community Center wasn’t being used before and during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. So the frenetic pulsating beat of eight door-size wooden keyboards being pummeled by mallets (and the toots of an occasional trumpet) didn’t disturb other tenants.

Pamwe band members also play guitar, drum kit and mbira, the traditional hand-held thumb piano of Africa known for its unique resonant ringing sound.

Finding people on South Whidbey to support the band’s stay wasn’t difficult, Moffett said.

One resident loaned a guest house for them to sleep and others cooked dinners. Lunches consisted of inquiries of “Ham or turkey? Lettuce with tomato? Bagel or potato bread?” as one band member quickly assembled sandwiches in-between tracks, cuts and re-cuts on the borrowed recording equipment.

“People saw their passion and their ambition,” Moffett added. “Who could say ‘no’ to that?”

Pamwe Marimba performed at Bayview Hall on Jan. 18 along with the bands Rubatano and Mumhanzi. Dancers of all ages took to the floors of the old building, swaying, jumping and swinging to the mesmerizing beat that thundered into the clear cold night.

“Usually I know who turns out for marimba shows because we’ve been playing so long on Whidbey,” Moffett said. “But I didn’t even know half of the crowd. We were thrilled with the turnout.”

Marimba is especially popular in the Northwest because it’s the region where it was first introduced to North Americans. In the late 1960s Dumisani “Dumi” Maraire was invited by the University of Washington Ethnomusicology Department to teach the traditional music of the Shona people of Zimbabwe, called Rhodesia at the time and under British colonial rule.

The music struck a chord and spread. There’s marimba centers, bands and after-school programs throughout the Northwest, California, Southwest and other states.

Like others in Pamwe, Davis was introduced to marimba music and the Zimbabwe culture as a kid. He started playing as an 8-year-old growing up in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and never stopped.

After playing in marimba bands, directing high school marimba bands and earning a bachelor’s degree in music, Davis decided to figure out how to form a new band with friends his own age, despite them living around Washington, Idaho, New Mexico, Colorado and Montana. They work various day jobs — bartender, music teacher, credit union employee, climbing gym manager — and have to juggle and align their various schedules in order to plan performances.

“For most of us, this is one side of our lives and then we’re back home at our various jobs,” said Jesse Larson, 31, who switched to marimba from piano because it didn’t require reading music. “All of us have to make it a priority in our lives. Some of us only have limited time off every year.”

Along with her partner, David Onstott, who’s also in Pamwe, she lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, converting vans into campers. Onstott teaches snowboarding, then they both head to Alaska during the summer for commercial fishing and to teach marimba.

Pulling off a long-distance marimba band isn’t easy. There’s no music to distribute because the music isn’t written down. Additionally, marimba instruments are divided into the octaves of soprano, alto, tenor, bass or baritone.

“One person has all the given parts for any given song in their head, or written out somewhere, and that person is responsible for recording all seven marimba parts to send to everyone, saying, ‘This is your part. Here’s all the lines you need to learn for the song,’” Davis explained.

“I honestly don’t know how we’d do this without modern technology.”

It’s similar to how people first learn to play marimba, Larson said.

“You learn everything from other players and from teachers. There’s very little scripted stuff,” she said. “You listen to each other playing and you get signals that way.”

Pamwe musicians had their start touring with Polyphony Marimba, under the direction of Peter Swing of Santa Fe. Polyphony toured nationally for 15 years before deciding to take a break last year. His son, Raven Swing, is part of Pamwe’s entourage.

Moffett and her efforts to teach and spread the authentic music traditions of Zimbabwe are “highly respected and appreciated in the marimba community,” Peter Swing wrote in an email.

She’s traveled to Zimbabwe 10 times. Additionally, the Rubatano Center will host a visiting musician from the Southeast African nation that gained its independence 45 years ago.

“Dana’s dedication and care for this music is beyond words. She is a gem of a human,” Davis said. “We couldn’t be where we are without her.”

In June, members of Pamwe plan to travel to Zimbabwe with Moffett to immerse themselves in the music, lifestyle and culture. Such efforts seem to help dissuade criticism sometimes lobbed against white musicians for playing the traditional African music.

“The big argument is that us playing their music is cultural appropriation,” said Pamwe band member Branson Seamons. “Everyone responds a little different. I tend to let it go.”

“We’re put our time in really learning about the culture and the music,” he added. “Certain songs are more spiritual, certain songs are for dance and we’re careful to tell the audience what the song is about.

“There is always credit due where it’s needed.”

For more information, visit pamwemarimba.com or rubatano.com.

(Photo by David Welton) Working a day job converting vans into campers in Santa Fe, Jesse Larson plans her life around marimba music, performing and teaching.

(Photo by David Welton) Caden Davis grew up in Coeur d’Alene where he learned marimba in elementary school. Now a graduate student at Western Washington University, he teaches about the keyboard, culture and significance of the Zimbabwean music at Rubatano Center.

(Photo provided) Dana Moffett has been playing and teaching marimba on Whidbey Island for more than two decades. She directs the Rubatano Center at South Whidbey Community Center.