In three short years, Sauti za Busara (Sounds of Wisdom) Swahili Music Festival held annually in Zanzibar has firmly established itself as one of East Africa’s finest annual events.
This five-day extravaganza of diverse and top-quality music, theatre and dance brings together people of all ages and backgrounds in celebration of the wealth and variety of Swahili music.
Here is a preview of the 2006 edition of the festival slated for Stone Town, Zanzibar, from February 9th to 12th,
and at Kendwa beach, north coast, on February 14 -
plus non-stop music programmes from 4pm to 1am daily
The 2006 Festival is expected to showcase rich and dynamic programmes including traditional music, taarab, kidumbak, rumba 'muziki wa dansi', mchiriku, Swahili hiphop 'bongo flava', Afropop fusions, mystic and religious music, theatre, comedy, acrobatics and dance.
In attendance would be over 30 groups from the Swahili-speaking region: Zanzibar, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Burundi, plus six specially selected groups from Swaziland, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Burkina Faso and Europe.
According to Yusuf Mahmoud, Festival Director, confirmed artists include Ferooz (bongo flava megastar), Mchinga Sound (muziki wa dansi), Jagwa Music (mchiriku from Dar es Salaam – favourites at WOMEX UK 2005!), Lady Jaydee (with live band) and Culture Musical Club (Zanzibar taarab).
Others are Amina (Mombasa), Sinachuki Kidumbak, Bi Kidude msondo group, Black Roots (Zanzibar), Mkalimala Culture Group (traditional music from Mtwara), Taffetas (kora fusion from Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau & Europe), Fanaza (Swaziland), Ukoo Flani MauMau (Nairobi hiphop), New Sound Band (Burundi), Atongo Zimba (Ghana) and The Shrine Synchrosystem featuring DJs Rita & Max from London, performing live with musicians and rappers from West and East Africa.
Yusuf explains: “through this festival we aim to provide a snapshot - for local and international audiences - of current musical trends drawn from the Swahili-speaking region.
"The event attracts a lot of visitors from all around the world, many being concert organizers and festival promoters who are always amazed by the quality and range of styles that exist in East Africa.
“Also, of course the festival is promoting Zanzibar, and attracting the kind of visitor who is interested in the arts, culture and history of the island and who spends money in ways that have a great impact on the local grassroots economy.”
Sauti za Busara is held at the Old Fort in Stone Town for four nights and then decamps to Kendwa beach on Zanzibar’s north coast for a special grand finalé celebration featuring international DJs, traditional music, Swahili hiphop, kidumbak wedding dances, and mad 'mchiriku' music from the shanty-towns of Dar es Salaam.
“You should come to gorge yourself on delicious Swahili cuisine, dodge acrobats and fire-eaters and dance the night away on one of the most beautiful beaches in East Africa.
“For international visitors to the Festival, we shall be happy to forward any travel enquiries to our official Festival Travel and Tour operator, who can take care of all your local travel and accommodation requirements.
“They can also help with visits to historic Stone Town, village cultural projects, spice plantations, taarab rehearsals, beach trips, dhow cruises, mainland safaris, snorkelling, diving, and if you’re lucky: swimming with dolphins - just let us know”, says Yusuf, himself a world class DJ.
The past festivals have attracted more than 12,000 people and interest for the next edition indicates that more will be in attendance.
The festival is very popular with the local population and is one of the annual highlights in Zanzibar's new approach to market itself as a leading global cultural tourism destination.
As well as bringing international visitors to the islands, the event provides artists from the Swahili-speaking world with a rare opportunity to meet, exchange ideas, learn from each other and create.
Many festival artists will be participating in music collaborations and workshops hosted by Zanzibar's Dhow Countries Music Academy.
Next year’s event is already on the drawing board and accordinbg to Yusuf, the 2007 edition of Sauti za Busara will be in Zanzibar from 8th – 14th February 2007
The festival is organised by Busara Promotions, a non-governmental, non-political, non-profit cultural organisation based in Zanzibar "to promote and develop opportunities for local and international music and performing artists within the East African region, work to strengthen the local arts infrastructure and build networks internationally, for the social, cultural and economic growth of Africa and the dhow region.
The A to Z list of artists and groups lined up for the SAUTI ZA BUSARA 2006
4 NATURE (Zanzibar)
A big hit with Zanzibari teenagers and youth, this group will fill the dance floor of any local disco.
4 Nature is another act in the series of young artists performing Zanzibar Hip Hop popularly known as Zenji Flavour. The group consists of 4 artists, namely Sadiq aka General, Abbas aka 100%, Abbas 2 aka Lil’ C and Jamshid aka M.K.
4 Nature was formed in 2002 and has so far recorded three singles: Tufurahi, Imejaa, and U-brotherman. With several local concert performances to their credit, the group also represented Zanzibar in the 2004 regional Music Crossroads competitions in Dar es Salaam.
“We intend to pursue a different direction by making a kind of hiphop that has more local flavour by introducing more local instruments to create a truly original Zenji Flavour” says the group’s spokesman Sadiq.
The group is currently rehearsing with music students from Dhow Countries Music Academy (DCMA) as a starting point in their new directions.
AFRICAN NGOMA (Zanzibar)
African Ngoma was born in 1996 as Amani Ngoma Troupe, but because the name was similar to that of another successful Zanzibar group Imani Ngoma, it was decided to change their name to African Ngoma in 2004.
The main aims of establishing this group were to help protect and preserve the rich traditional music heritage of Tanzania, offer traditional and contemporary music training and performances as well as to conduct research on traditional music.
The leader of the group, Kornely Kijogoo and some of the artists have much experience in the field, having participated in festivals locally and internationally. Countries they have performed in already include Germany, Italy, Sweden, Egypt, Kenya, Korea, Finland, Holland, Russia and England.
AMINA (Kenya)
Amina and group present an eclectic mix of Bajun traditions of the northern Kenya coast and Lamu archipelago with Mombasa taarab sensibilities. The instrumental mix includes electrified Japanese taishokoto (typewriter banjo), Indian harmonium, Western instruments like keyboard and solo guitar and local African percussion instruments. The group’s sound is a work of memory on singer Amina’s and some of the musicians’ Bajun roots. Rhythmically and melodically it draws on ngoma-dance traditions of the Lamu islands, as well as on the sufi heritage, which is part of the Arabic-Islamic legacy of the East African coast.
Loving to sing from her childhood days in Mombasa, Amina first excelled in qasida at Quranic school, then as a member of the school choir. With the help of her sisters, she had to sneak out from home at night in the early days of her singing career. After a short while she was singing with Mombasa’s major pop bands, including Safari Sound, Rafikis Band and Mombasa Roots. When she got married at 21 she had to stop singing. After a divorce she continued where she had left, singing with the same bands in the Kenyan coastal hotel circuit, as well as international shows in Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Dubai and Oman. A second marriage led to another break from singing, lasting for several years. During this period, her aunt and neighbour Khuleita Muhashamy, Mombasa’s most famous poetess and writer of taarab songs, wrote her a song Dawa Yangu (My Medicine), which she recorded and became an instant hit and is still played almost daily on Kenyan radio.
Recordings:
Amina / The New Voice of Mombasa Taarab – Bajuni & Swahili Songs (Jahazi Media 2006)
Text reproduced with thanks to Werner Graebner
ATONGO ZIMBA (Ghana/UK)
(performing solo and together with The Shrine Synchrosystem)
Atongo Zimba was born in the savannahs of northern Ghana in 1967. His grandfather taught him how to build and play the koliko or molo, a two-stringed calabash lute and the first songs he learned were rooted firmly in tradition, dealing with everyday life in the countryside of northern Ghana's Bolgatanga region. Being a child of his time, he was also exposed to African popular music on the radio and like many of his contemporaries; he was enthralled by the sounds of Fela Kuti’s afrobeat. It was to have a seminal influence on his musical development and Afrobeat inspired him so much, he decided to leave his hometown and explore the musical idioms of the surrounding regions.
Atongo sings in his native language of Frafra, as well as Pidgin English and other West African languages of Hausa, Twi and Ga. The lyrics remain true to the roots of his savannah upbringing, dealing with simple everyday themes. The musical production however marks out his new album Savannah Breeze as modern Afro-fusion. Producer and arranger Sultan Makendé (aka Dave Yowell), who co-produced the legendary Captain Yaba album in the late 1990s, came up with a funky modern African sound fusing modern electronic instruments with the acoustic roots of the African Sahel. Working with musicians steeped in jazz, funk and African music, the album moves effortlessly through a variety of grooves available to the contemporary musician – funk here, jazz there, a searing griot solo. Atongos’s own repertoire has also been informed by his countless encounters with musicians from a variety of traditions. Atongo Zimba loves to play music and it shows. And indeed, what catches your ear throughout, is that distinctive voice, alternately praising, and cajoling, poking fun, criticizing, and caressing.
Recordings:
Savannah Breeze (Hippo Records, 2005)
BENI YA POLISI (Zanzibar)
There are many beni bands on the island but this group is one of the best, and a must for any festival. Beni turned the inspiration of colonial military brass bands into a completely local thing, by bringing it into the realm of song and dance competitions. Played mostly at weddings and other celebrations, there are two main styles. One is in the form of a street procession that traditionally accompanies the sending of the bride’s belongings to the place where the newly-weds are going to live. The other is a women’s dance where the wedding guests do a circle dance around the band with solo dancers or pairs of dancers entering the centre for special hip-gyrating routines. The lead trumpet gives the cues for new songs and all participants join in for the chorus.
Acknowledgements: Werner Graebner, liner notes from Zanzibar: Soul & Rhythm
BI KIDUDE (Zanzibar)
Bi Kidude bint Baraka is Zanzibar’s most famous cultural ambassador and East Africa’s legendary barefoot diva of taarab and unyago traditional music.
Bi Kidude’s exact date of birth is unknown, much of her life story is uncorroborated, giving her an almost mythical status. Kidude started out her musical career in the 1920s, and learnt many of her songs with Siti bint Saad.
She has performed in countries all around Europe, Africa, Middle East and Japan and finally recorded her first solo album Zanzibar only ten years ago, whilst already in her mid-eighties.
Having contributed tracks to many international compilations (on Retro-Afric, Piranha, Globestyle, Jahazi, even EMI/Virgin record labels), it was only recently that she released her own second locally-produced album (Machozi ya Huba, Heartbeat Records) with her traditional singing and drums influencing the burgeoning Zenji Flava local hip-hop scene in one of the most remarkable juxtapositions of musical style in modern ‘world music’.
During the Festival, Bi Kidude performs traditional unyago music. In her 90s, she is still very much the island’s leading exponent of this ancient dance ritual, performed exclusively for teenage girls, which uses traditional rhythms to teach women to pleasure their husbands, while lecturing against the dangers of sexual abuse and oppression.
In October 2005, Bi Kidude was presented with the World Music Expo (WOMEX) lifetime achievement award. Renowned African music expert Banning Eyre delivered a moving tribute, in which he informed delegates that “the singer, well in her nineties yet still sporting a bone-crushing handshake, received the honours in recognition of her more than 80 years of singing and serving as a cultural mediator and advisor of the younger generations, including on matters of sex and marriage – a proper symbol of World Music’s emancipatory, liberating and strengthening power.”
As Bi Kidude walked on stage to accept her reward, the two thousand WOMEX delegates gave her a five-minute standing ovation. A proud day it was indeed for Africa.
The WOMEX Award gala also shortly introduced the feature film documentary “As Old As My Tongue: The Myth and Life of Bi Kidude”, produced by Screenstation in collaboration with Busara Promotions, due for festival release in 2006.
“Bi Kidude was a popular choice for this year’s WOMEX Award. During the short film feature shown before she came on to receive her award, the classic feisty line ‘I drink, I smoke, I don’t need a microphone’ brought riotous applause from the assembled throng.”
Ian Anderson, fROOTS magazine
Recordings:
‘Zanzibar’ (Retroafric, 1995), ‘Machozi ya Huba’ (Heartbeat, 2003), “Zanzibara 4: Bi Kidude” (Buda, 2006)
TEXT BOX
As Old As My Tongue film documentary
In celebration of Bi Kidude’s remarkable life, ScreenStation (UK), in partnership with Busara Promotions is currently putting finishing touches to a feature documentary film “As Old As My Tongue – The Myth and Life of Bi Kidude” to be screened at festivals and cinemas around the world in 2006. As Old As My Tongue has been filmed over the last three years in Zanzibar and on tour in Europe with Bi Kidude. More than a biography, it’s an insight into the politics and personalities of Zanzibar’s contemporary society.
BLACK ROOTS CULTURE GROUP (Zanzibar)
Black Roots Cultural Group have been immersed in the islands’ arts scene for many years. Apart from their regular drama plays broadcast on TV Zanzibar, the group is reinterpreting local traditional dances. The potent messages they convey through their drama reach all levels of society in Tanzania and is a main reason for their success and popularity. With the leadership and guidance of the charismatic Othman Mohamed (Makombora), the most famous actor in the Zanzibar islands, Black Roots is one of the island’s special cultural treasures that we showcase with pride.
BLACK ROSES (Swaziland)
Black Roses is a six-piece band from Swaziland that performs a mixture of roots reggae, soul and African beats. From their humble beginnings in September 2000, jamming on the balcony of Myxo’s, a tourist backpackers near Manzini, Black Roses have reached great heights and are now recognised as one of Swaziland’s most powerful, tight and well established bands. They have chalked up dozens of successful concerts to date at various music and arts festivals, at most of the major venues in Swaziland (most especially House-on-Fire where they established a household name) and also in Mozambique, where every show was a memorial success.
However, their objectives have not always been for money, as the band featured in various charity concerts for HIV/AIDS awareness, with their everlasting hit “I’ Aids” that continues in demand.
In November 2001, after only a year of being together, Black Roses launched their debut CD, “Love is more than just…”. The CD received much acclaim in Swaziland and has been receiving extensive airplay on both the English and siSwati local channels. The band is current re-printing several copies of this same album, to be distributed locally and abroad, with a market in the UK already growing fast.
During December 2002, Black Roses performed alongside some of South Africa’s greatest names in music, including Bongo Muffin, Ringo, Sipho Gumde, Don Laka, Caiphus Simenya, Leta Mbulu, Tsepo Tsholo, Four Forty… to name but a few. This was at the Linkfest “Eclipse” 2002 Music Festive held in Masina, South Africa, where Black Roses, clad in Swazi traditional attire, received enormous acclaim for their electrifying and inspiring performance that was seen as an upliftment of the Country of Swaziland within the Music Sectors of the Sub-African region.
The future of the Black Roses is bright and plans are in place for a UK tour later this year. When Black Roses play, they don’t just stand there, they give it everything they’ve got and leave the people with a show to remember. Anyone who’s witnessed one of their live shows will testify to something special. Black Roses are probably the hardest and hottest working band in the country of Swaziland, today and tomorrow. But remember, “if you don’t know how to dance, blame your legs!”
BREIS (Nigeria/UK)
(Performing with The Shrine Synchrosystem)
Bonafide Rhymes Exist In Self, aka BREIS (breeze) is a renaissance man: emcee, beat maker, writer, event organiser, workshop facilitator and one of UK’s most talented hiphop artists. Since winning the Mean Fiddler Competition in 1997, he has been performing for crowds all over the UK, Europe, Africa, NY and LA. Raised on artists such as EPMD, Big Daddy Kane, Biggie, Ella Fitzgerald, Otis Redding, King Sunny Ade, Stevie Wonder and Fela Kuti. His lyrics focus on personal experiences of self doubt, growing pains, love, music, anger and the experience of being an African in a European environment. Full of witty punchlines, humour and wordplay, he also fuses English and Yoruba in verse.
He terms his style as BAM (British-African Music). “My music is a product of my environment and cultural heritage. So both my music and lyrics are a pot-pourri of UK and African musical styles and inflections.”
BREIS has shared the stage with DJ Tony Touch, Cuban jazz musician Omar Sosa, Tony Allen and in the 2004 Red Hot and Riot concert (Barbican, London) with Wunmi, Baaba Maal, Les Nubians and Dead Prez. He has worked with Bugz in the Attic, TY, DJ Keith Lawrence, Eska Mtungwazi and Dele Sosimi to name a few.
BREIS is a strong live performer and has demonstrated this on various stages throughout the UK and Europe. He is energetic, humorous and entertaining. His first single, Sounds So Fresh was released on Uprock recordings in 2001 to critical acclaim and 2004 he released a mix-CD, “Your Favourite MC” independently and is currently working on his much anticipated debut album.
BROTHER MIKE (Zanzibar)
Michael Dotto, widely known as Brother Mike, is one in the series of new- breed artists representing “muziki wa kizazi kipya” popularly known as bongo flava. He started his musical career in 1998 but due to financial difficulties and family interference it took him until 2003 to record his first single called Kitendawili ( puzzle ) which attracted the attention of Dar es Salaam-based Smooth Vibes label, who now represent him.
His style of music is zouk ragga combination and most of his lyrics are about love. “We cannot stop to love or be loved, it is a fruit that we have to keep fresh,” he says.
With two more singles recorded in 2005 his popularity is growing fast and he is one of the few artists from Zanzibar to get frequent airplay in the mainland radio stations. He performs regularly in Zanzibar and was recently one of the two Zanzibar representatives in the national Music Crossroads competition in Dar es Salaam. “My confidence is growing and the sky is the limit,” he boasts.
Recordings: Kitendawili (2003), Mwambieni C (2005)
CULTURE MUSICAL CLUB (Zanzibar)
Culture Musical Club is not only the largest, but also the most prolific and successful taarab orchestra of Zanzibar and they present taarab Swahili style at its best. In addition to innumerable performances in Stonetown, villages of Zanzibar and on Tanzania mainland, this group has toured internationally with outstanding success, winning over audiences in France, Belgium, UK, Germany, Switzerland, the Arab Emirates and Reunion with their lush sound and dedicated performance of songs and instrumental solos. They perform new compositions on a regular basis and have developed a distinct and uniquely Swahili style. Their CD-releases Spices of Zanzibar (Network Medien, 1996) Bashraf (Dizim, 2000) Waridi (Jahazi, 2003) and The Music of Zanzibar (Globestyle, 1988) have made the name Culture Musical Club known to audiences throughout the world so that rehearsals in their clubhouse have become somewhat of a tourist attraction. This, however, does not interfere with the first and foremost aim of their social gathering – namely to enjoy music and to be moved by it. So sit back and let the rich orchestral sounds, the inventive songs and the joy of the music-making transport you!
DJ YUSUF (UK/Zanzibar)
Originally from UK, where he started promoting African music to raise funds and awareness for the Anti-Apartheid Movement in the early 1980s. Went on to set up Beat the Border and VSO’s Routes in Rhythm, DJ-ing and promoting international music concerts, festivals, conferences and workshops around the UK to raise awareness and promote positive images of the global south.
Since 1998 DJ Yusuf has been based in Stone Town, Zanzibar, where until 2002 he was director of the music and performing arts programme for ZIFF Festival of the Dhow Countries. In 2003 Yusuf moved on to set up Busara Promotions, a non-profit NGO working throughout East Africa to promote local and international music, build skills of regional artists and develop cross-regional promoters’ networks. Established Sauti za Busara (Sounds of Wisdom) annual Swahili Music Festival in 2004 yet still finds time to DJ regularly at hotels and beach resorts around Zanzibar under the banner of Routes in Rhythm.
The focus is on diversity and juxtaposition, and DJ Yusuf is very much on a musical mission. On his playlist always are the latest dancefloor fillers from Dar es Salaam, mixed with the phattest beats from all over Africa, the Caribbean, Arab World and the funkiest fusions from the rest of the world music spectrum. Transcending all the boundaries music-wise, expect the unexpected!
FEROOZ + DAZ NUNDAZ (Tanzania)
Ferooz Mrisho is a leading member of Daz Nundaz, the legendary Dar es Salaam based bongo flava group formed in the mid-nineties by five members, Ferooz, Daz Baba, Critic, La Rumba, and Sajo.
After a series of talent show performances and other local concerts, DJ Ibra, a brother of the trio “Unique Sisters”, supported them to record their first single.
This single, Maji ya Shingo was recorded at FM Studio by producer Miikka Mwamba. The group quickly gained popularity and were invited to do many more shows around Dar es Salaam.
Daz Nundaz grabbed the attention of all of Tanzania when they released a single “Kamanda”, and they were offered a contract to record a full album at Bongo Records studios.
After releasing their first album, which also featured the massive hits Barua and Mkiwa, Daz Nundaz decided that individual artists should record a solo album. Ferooz was the first artist to do this and his solo album Safari produced by P Funk (Bongo Records) is one of the bongo flava classics.
The single “Starehe” from this Safari album, in which he plays the role of a patient in hospital dying of AIDS, was number one in every radio station across Tanzania and Kenya and made Ferooz one of the most sought-after artists of Tanzania.
Ferooz won the Kilimanjaro Music Award for Best Single 2004 as well as BBC Tanzania Award for Best Male Bongo Flava Artist.
HALIKUNIKI & SEKEMBUKE COMEDY GROUP (Zanzibar)
Founded in 1995 by two of Zanzibar’s leading comedians, Shabaani Muasi Vuai ( Sekembuke) and Juma Haji Usi ( Halikuniki ) a move which was prompted by Tanzania’s general election. They were initially engaged for a campaign to educate people about voting rights on both the main islands of Zanzibar – Unguja and Pemba.
Their slapstick comedy styles are designed to send messages, educate as well as warn the community about different issues affecting daily lives of the people. They mostly performed in campaign rallies, cultural festivals, concerts and other community occasions like weddings.
Apart from stage acts, Halikuniki and Sekembuke participate in film acting and have acted in several comedy films and local documentaries, which are available in the local market.
Halikuniki and Sekembuke have participated in almost every major cultural event in Zanzibar since their establishment. They have also travelled to perform in Dar es Salaam and Comoros in 2003 where they were invited for a series of shows. They are widely popular in Zanzibar with people of all ages as the most versatile and funny family entertainment.
The group have so far released more than ten video films of their work as well as featuring in twelve other films in Zanzibar.
JAGWA MUSIC (Tanzania)
From the poor suburbs of Dar es Salaam, Jagwa Music play a style of music with chakacha roots known as mchiriku. The group features minimal instruments including a hand-held Casio keyboard, a few drums, whistles and a battered old stool beaten with sticks for extra percussive flavour.
Jagwa Music guarantees to set any concert venue ablaze with explosive performances that always keep the crowds jumping and bouncing from start to finish. Their stage show is awesome – a non-stop gymnastic workout choreographed with skill and sensitivity, combining theatrics, acrobatic prowess, no small amount of humour and more energy than an atom bomb.
Song lyrics are embellished on the spot with spontaneous commentary, depending on what’s going on in the news and who’s around in the audience. Usually combined with witty observations about the daily struggles of survival in a world surrounded by injustice.
For example, in Shangazi Mbaya {A Cruel Aunt}, the singer comments:
I did not want to say, but today I say it in the open
What aunt did to us
I will say in the open, the bad things she did to us,
Wanting to rob our inheritance,
Shamelessly she pretended not to know us in the court.
Aunt is cruel, but her plan did not work
God did not allow her
The court found out….
We have the right to inherit our late father’s wealth
These days when you tune in to most local radio stations you can now hear a lot of Tanzanian music. So-called bongo flava, in Swahili language, but the rhythms and melody is more USA than EA. You never hear mchiriku on the radio, despite its popularity with the urban youth. Radio presenters allege this is because mchiriku was always considered to be kihuni – music for poor people and associated with drinking and bhang-smoking.
For Jagwa Music, things soon look set to change. In October 2005 the group performed at the Sage Centre, Gateshead (UK) at the World Music Expo (WOMEX) where many delegates greatly appreciated the group’s refreshing energy and rawness, rarely seen these days in Europe where African music is often sanitized by the “world music” fashionmongers. The group is now receiving enquiries from festival promoters all around the globe and it’s looking like mchiriku music will finally gain the international recognition and respect that it always deserved.
Recordings (cassette-only releases available in Tanzania):
Tulia Mke Wangu (1998), Bai Bai Abiola (1998), Mauaji Ya Kinyama(1999), Liwalo Na Liwe (2000), Tumechoka Hoi (2000), Jela Haina Mwenyewe (2001), Shughuli Gharama (2002), Nguzo Ya Isaya (2003), Mtoto Acha Kupiga Mayowe (2004), Watu Na Maisha Yao (2004), Maisha Popote (2005)
JAMBO BROTHERS ACROBATS (Zanzibar)
Jambo Brothers was formed in 1999 by two Zanzibar acrobats Saidi and Khamis at Kiembe Samaki area. Later the same year three more members joined the group and they became the Golden Stars Acrobatic Show. Performing mainly in bars, schools, political rallies and other social occasions the group was struggling to stay alive because of lack of experience and proper leadership.
The group survived in an on-off situation, at times stopping for months and reviving it occasionally.
In 2004 a Kenyan born young man Juma Wilson, aka Scooby Doo joined the group and suggested they change their name to Jambo Brothers. Through his advice the group started to look for shows in tourists’ hotels and thus became more popular around the island.
They perform with recorded music as background with styles including acrobatics, juggling, dancing and fire eating. The group performs regularly in hotels around the North and Eastern coast of Zanzibar.
JANG’OMBE NURSERY SCHOOL (Zanzibar)
Jang’ombe School was established in August 1982 with five classes, at nursery, junior and senior level, which have now grown to seven classes with a total of four hundred kids.
The school has a special traditional dance class, teaching different kinds of traditional dances from around Zanzibar and Tanzania as a whole.
Having built up quite a reputation throughout the country, every year Jang’ombe Nursery School is invited to perform in different public occasions. They participated in junior traditional dance competitions in Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam in 1999, 2002 and 2003 winning all three events!
The school also participated in the second Sauti za Busara festival in 2005 where they received riotous applause from parents and friends during their show of kirumbizi (stick-fighting dance, originally from Pemba).
KYANDU MUSIC (Tanzania)
Started in 1998 Kyandu Music is a Dar es Salaam based group performing contemporary interpretations of traditional music. It was through the ambition of the group’s chairman and tutor Seif Chambusu who wanted to use the group as a way of sending messages to wide audiences about the need to protect and develop Tanzania’s cultural heritage.
Kyandu plays traditional dance music by adding a taste of Tanzania’s guitar music (muziki wa dansi) and therefore making it more appealing to older people as well as new generation audiences. Instruments used include bass marimba, rhythm marimba, solo marimba, ngoma traditional drums, shakers and a locally made drum kit including improvised snares.
They regularly perform in tourist hotels and during public days and weddings, and participated in Bagomoyo Arts Festival in 2003.
LADY JAYDEE (Tanzania)
Lady Jaydee is possibly Tanzania’s most popular singer. Her electrifying lyrics, sing- along melodies and a dash of true African womanhood gives her a well-deserved recognition throughout East Africa and beyond.
Born Judith Wambura, nicknamed Jaydee, started shining at the age of seven when she was singing in a church choir in Shinyanga. After completing her secondary education she joined Tanzania’s most popular radio station Clouds FM as a presenter. In the beginning of year 2000 whilst still working as a radio presenter, Lady Jaydee released her first single ‘Nakupenda’ which hit No.1 spot in chart shows of various radio stations in Tanzania, followed by another hit single ‘Mpenzi Wangu’.
Jaydee gave up radio presenting in order to become a full time musician and the gamble paid off well when she released ‘Machozi’ (Tears) – soul food to many of her music fans. In 2000 she was the first Tanzanian female artist to launch a solo album and subsequently spent two busy years performing, touring and enjoying success.
Early in 2003 Lady Jaydee made a comeback with two controversial hit singles ‘Usiusemee Moyo’ & ‘Wanaume Kama Mabinti’. She soon launched her second album ‘Binti’ (Daughter) containing twelve new compositions including another smash hit ‘Siri Yangu’. In 2005 Lady Jaydee released her third and most successful album to date, ‘Moto’ (Fire), featuring a stellar line up of guest artists including Samba Mapangala (DRC), TID (Tz) and Titi (Uganda). She spent 14 months recording 18 songs and of the ten that made it to the album is included ‘Rafiki Wa Mashaka’, a true-life story about betrayals among friends and a tabloid that spoils a woman’s name. ‘Distance’, a song in which she sings in seven languages (Kiswahili, English, Zulu, Lingala, French, Chinyarwanda and Chiganda) spent almost a year on radio and TV rotation and remains one of her best-loved hits. Jaydee’s albums continue selling extremely well and she is recognized as the top selling artist in Tanzania (GMC Distributors).
Lady Jaydee Highlights & Achievements
Performed in Kora Designers Competition in South Africa in 2001.
Winner of M-Net Where U @? Awards 2001 for Best Female Artist in Tanzania
Winner of two Tanzania Music Awards 2001/02 for Best Female Artist and Best Video
Winner of Youth Achievements Awards 2003 for Best Song and Best Video
Nominee for Kora Music Awards 2003 as Most Promising Female Artist in Africa
Winner of Channel O’s Reel Music Video Awards 2003
Winner of Tanzania Music Awards 2004 for Best R’n’B Album
Nominee for Kora Music Awards 2004 for Best Female East African Artist.
Winner of Channel O’s Awards 2005 for Best Female in East Africa and Best Collaboration Song in Africa
Nominee for Kora Awards 2005 for Best Female East African Artist
MANDOJO & DOMOKAYA (Tanzania)
Mandojo started his music career as a very young boy in Manyoni district, Singida region with the Mighty Melodies band. His real name is Joseph Michael. During his primary school days he only had one pair of shoes called DOJO which he had to wear everyday and so other kids nicknamed him DOJOMAN, the name which later changed to MANDOJO.
DOMOKAYA learned his music skills from his brother who was in the same group with TID, another big name in the Bongo flava map. His real name is Precious Juma Nkoma but because he was very talkative in school he was nicknamed DOMOKAYA.
MANDOJO and DOMOKAYA met in Arusha in a Wamandavaku family camp, which is an independent artist’s family. MANDOJO’s melodies and DOMOKAYA’s Ghetto raps made them decide to unite to form MANDOJO & DOMOKAYA.
When Juma Nature was launching his Ugali album in Arusha, MANDOJO & DOMOKAYA performed as warm up artists. Both Juma Nature and Jay Moe were immediately impressed and decided to take them to receord at P Funk’s studio (Bongo Records). They soon released their first single “Nikupe” which spent several months at the top of the charts of many radio stations in Tanzania.
After their successful first single they signed a contract with JAG RECORDS owned by Gardner G. Habash and recorded their first album named Taswira.
MANDOJO & DOMOKAYA have stamped their name in the Bongo flava arena due to their unique style, mixing acoustic guitar and melodies calling their style Hip Hop Banjo.
The group has recently released another hit single called “Dingi” and they are working on their second album, to be released soon.
MCHINGA GENERATION (Tanzania)
The band was born under the name Mchinga Sound named after the name of its birthplace, Mchinga village in Lindi region, southern Tanzania. In 2005 the band changed its name to Mchinga Generation due to the ongoing business competition in the music map of Tanzania. The style of music Mchinga plays is called timbatimba which means to stomp your feet. Their music has a pan-African identity: “Our music has no borders. In Africa we play a variety of African flavours to satisfy different tastes”, says Mchinga Generation’s manager Othman Kindimbo.
The band has so far released 5 albums, all available on CD and cassettes for the local market. Instruments used in their music includes guitars, drum kit, keyboard and congas. The band has 30 members but during performances artists are nine dancers, seven guitarists, two drummers and seven singers.
Mchinga Generation performs regularly to huge crowds in different venues around Dar es Salaam and Tanzania as a whole. They have taken part in various campaign festivals and government ocassions around Tanzania.
Recordings:
Kisiki cha mpingo (2000);
Binadamu (2001);
Gunia la misumari (2002);
Nafsi (2004);
Mwaka wa tabu (2005)
MKALIMALA CULTURE GROUP (Tanzania)
Mkalimala is a very popular ngoma group from Magomeni area in Mtwara southern Tanzania, which was established 27 years ago. The group use Makonde masks, a variety of dance styles, combining drumming, comedy and stilt walking. Most of the songs are in Makonde language and some in Swahili, they sing and dance imitatively with the aim of driving a point home without saying too much. “It is very boring to keep talking straight forwardly about AIDS but we have ways to send messages whilst keeping the enthusiasm of the audience” says DJ Amani, the group’s manager.
The dance moves are driven by the lead drummer (msondo mkubwa) and it is amazing how the two communicate with rhythms and acrobatic moves.
Mkalimala is one of the few Makonde cultural groups in Mtwara region to keep going for so long in the face of globalisation and they always pull a large crowd locally whenever they perform.
Mkalimali Culture Group performs regularly in local campaign festivals and has travelled internationally to perform in UK, Denmark and Mozambique.
“Drop a note on the ground and let a stilt walker pick it up in style!”
NEW SOUND BAND (Burundi)
Formed by a group of young people between the age of 17 and 30 years, New Sound Band was established in 1998 in Bujumbura Burundi. Their main aim was to try to encourage young people to engage in more social activities in the war torn country.
New Sound band plays a mix of traditional Burundi music and contemporary (fusion) sounds. Songs are sung in three different languages, Kirundi, Swahili and French. Most of their lyrics are about the daily lives of Burundi’s youth, about war, love, unity, peace and reconciliation.
Mostly the band uses electric instruments including guitars, keyboards, drum kit plus two large traditional drums, which add local identity to their music.
Apart from exiled and refugee musicians living mostly in Europe, New Sound Band is now looked upon as representing the new generation in Burundi’s popular music scene. Attracting thousands of fans, mostly young, from across the country to their shows, the band is opening a new page in the lives of many by encouraging unity and bringing hope.
One of the highlights of their very special act is when the 8 year-old Dogo A grabs the microphone to sing about how politicians can mislead a society creating hatred among people who have lived together for generations, using kids like himself as soldiers and denying their right of attending schools.
New Sound Band has performed in DRC, Uganda and Rwanda as well as performing in a number of local festivals in Burundi such as Festival Sangwe, Search for Common Grounds, Fete de la Musique and Projet Jeunesse.
PARAPANDA THEATRE LAB (Tanzania)
Parapanda Theatre Lab (PTL), popularly known as Parapanda Arts, is based in the outskirts of Dar es Salaam. It is probably the nation’s leading theatre organisation, whose broad objective is to promote theatre in Tanzania. The word parapanda is derived from a Kiswahili word meaning a traditional music instrument used to alert members of the community. This instrument could be likened to a modern trumpet. The Organisation bears this name to give force to the function of theatre in contemporary Tanzania.
Lab is a short form of Laboratory, indicating the organisation’s commitment to experimentations of various theatrical forms.
The group was started by two theatre students of the University of Dar es Salaam; Mr Mgunga Mwa Mnyenyelwa and Ms Mona Mwakalinga.
Parapanda distinguishes itself from other theatre practitioners by its original narrative theatre based in story telling, poetry and music. For ten years now, Parapanda has been dealing with crosscutting issues from political to cultural with verve and innovation.
Some of their successful productions over the past five years include “Kilio cha Ardhi” (A cry for land); “Tangulia Mwalimu” (Swahili poetry album which ended up winning 2000 TANZANIA MUSIC AWARD; “Shujaa wa Jando”; “Bin Adam wa Damu”; “Mfalme Juha” and “Wimbo wa Nyonga”.
The group has toured extensively, performing in Zanzibar, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Mozambique and South Africa.
SAKI STARS (Tanzania)
Headed by the charismatic Salome Kiwaya (director/composer/lead vocals), Saki Stars band was formed in 1992 and is based in Dodoma (central Tanzania) with twelve musicians.
Saki Stars is entertaining whilst educational and their songs draw on a diverse range of traditional and contemporary musical influences from around the African Continent and diaspora. Lyrics are in Swahili, English and other African languages, passionately yet sensitively highlighting social and cultural, political, and development issues of concern to the African predicament. Whilst being carried away by Mama Salome’s extraordinary voice and the rhythms and emotions of her music, don’t be surprised to find that the song you are enjoying is actually talking about the horrors of female genital mutilation, or subliminal campaigns for women’s and children’s rights.
Saki Stars is often invited to perform in different regions around Tanzania and has also performed in London, UK.
SCREENSTATION (UK)
ScreenStation is a UK-based film and multimedia organisation with an international outlook. Promoting and producing global film, they organise events, screenings, run training courses and create educational resources.
Currently ScreenStation is involved in productions in the UK, Sudan, Zanzibar, Sierra Leone and India: a mixture of untold stories, music, peace building and communication in partnership with activists, artists and development agencies.
Recent films include: Just Peace (Sudan, 2005), Sudan Voices: Conversations with Women (2005), Reel Lives (Sierra Leone, 2005), Reel Lives Kolkata (India, 2006), As Old As My Tongue: The myth and life of Bi Kidude (Zanzibar, forthcoming 2006)
SINACHUKI KIDUMBAK (Zanzibar)
Makame Faki’s Sinachuki Kidumbak Group has been at the forefront in creativity for Zanzibar’s most popular roots based music for many years.
The kidumbak style is like a stripped down version of orchestral taarab, featuring vocals, violin, sanduku (tea-chest bass), two small clay drums (ki-dumbak), forming the rhythmic core of every such ensemble and other persussion instruments, such as cherewa, a kind of maracas made from coconut shells filled with seeds or mkwasa; short wooden sticks, played like claves.
Contemporary kidumbak often makes use of the latest taarab hit songs. In contrast to taarab, kidumbak is much more rhythmic and the lyrics more drastic than the poetic subtlety of the taarab songs, often criticizing other peoples’ social behaviour. At wedding performances the singer has to be able to string together a well-timed medley of ngoma songs, and she or he has the ability to compose lyrics on the spot. At Zanzibar weddings and birthdays, these days one kidumbak set usually lasts anything between one and six hours and as one song joins the next, the intensity heats up, with the main attraction being the interplay between the players and the raunchy dancing and chorus response by the wedding guests.
Fronted by the charismatic singer Makame Faki “sauti ya zege” (gravel voice), don’t miss this rare chance to enjoy Sinachuki Kidumbak - the best of its kind.
Recordings:
Ramlakaolewa (1990), Hujahitmu Kusoma (1996), Ukitakakula Muhogo (2003), Nifanye Nini (2004)
Throughout the year, and particularly in the week before the Festival, Busara Promotions works in collaboration with Zanzibar’s Dhow Countries Music Academy (DCMA) to provide an opportunity for musicians of different backgrounds to come together, learn from each other and create new musical fusions, which are sometimes performed on stage under the title of Swahili Encounters.
This years invitees for the music fusion festival workshop include taarab and ngoma musicians, hiphop artists, DJs, a kora player from Guinea Bissau and others representing Zanzibar, Dodoma, Dar es Salaam and Mtwara regions of mainland Tanzania, as well as international guests from UK, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Switzerland.
There the music blended and grooved, dancers felt moved to do spontaneous improvisations, drummers went flying in search of new rhythms and the singers explored new harmonies and sounds together.
There is were a few of those really magical moments, when different musicians find that common place where it ‘clicks’ and everything works in harmony to produce a truly exciting new sound
TAFFETAS (Guinea Bissau/Burkina Faso/Switzerland)
The intoxicating Taffetas sound is built around the kora (West African harp-like instrument) and the Swiss duo of Marc Liebeskind (guitar) and Christophe Erard (double bass), who also take the compositional credits. Their shows in Zanzibar will feature Cheikh “Nana” Sisokko (Guinea Bissau) on kora and Fatoumata Dembele (Burkina Faso) on vocals.
Taffetas create a soul-stirring and timeless musical cocktail and the festival is proud to have this group participating in the Swahili Encounters music fusion workshops as well as several performances. In his “Top of the World” CD review for Songlines magazine, Nigel Williamson enthuses: “concentrated listening reveals hidden depths and all manner of contrapuntal cleverness, chromatic surprises and complex time signatures. There’s an unmistakable feeling of constant forward motion, underpinned by the rolling rhythm of the bass, over which the guitar and kora trade irresistible cascades of notes without ever indulging in showboating. Above all, it’s indescribably beautiful. Taffetas have come up with something rare these days even in the adventurous and open-minded genre that is modern world music – a sound that is totally fresh and unique.”
“They simply play, interweaving with each other, taking turns to come to the front, and an hour later the listener feels both uplifted and soothed.”
Charlie Gillett, BBC Radio London
With thanks to support from Pro Helvetia [logo]
TAMARIND BAND
Get down and dance to the new beats of the shubidu shubidu style!
Playing “muziki wa dansi”, modern guitar music from Tanzania and “mduara”, East African coastal rhythms; Tamarind Band was established early in 2005. The group, featuring 14 members, has already made enormous impact largely thanks to the guidance of their lead vocalist and main composer, Juma Malembeka.
The group was formed in Zanzibar but these days are based mostly in Dar, where making a living from music is more realistic. They perform weekly at Mango Garden (Kinondoni) and Sungu Chine (Mwenge). Their first album, Moto wa Tamarind, was recently launched and its title track as well as Safari and Mwari are regular features on the playlists of most Tanzanian radio stations. They have also released two videos, which made major impact in what is an extremely competitive market. Tamarind Band are on the rise and already posing a major challenge to the likes of African Stars Band and Mchinga Generation.
“Our plan is to continue to work hard and to concentrate on also building the international market”, says Hafidh Badou, band owner.
Their songs are about real life happenings in the community, for example the song Mbeleko (a cloth women use to carry their babies) is about the good advice someone gets from their parents that guides him/her through their day-to-day life struggles.
THE SHRINE SYNCHROSYSTEM (Ghana/UK/Nigeria)
Inspired by Fela Anikulapo Kuti's Lagos club, The Shrine, and the rebirth of Afrobeat brought about by Fela’s untimely death in 1997, the Shrine DJ Posse have been lobbing their lightning bolt of Afrosubversion into London nightlife for many years and their Rebel Music mission continues.
The Afrocentric Roots 'n' Digital Mix features Afrobeat, High Life, Mbaqanga, Rai, Kwaito, Soukous, Benga, Juju, Mbalax, Afrodigital sounds, Chaabi, Salsa, Samba, Bossa, Reggae, Funk, Drum'n'bass, Garage, Fusions and the Tuffest Beats del Mondo... ice cool new tunes and red hot old classics.
The Shrine Synchro System is a specially deconstructed version of the Shrine - a seamless mix of slamming sounds and dazzling visuals and weaving in and out of the soundscape come stunning live contributions from musicians. Over past years the Shrine DJs featured a wide range of live musicians blowing, strumming, bowing, singing, drumming and flowing over their beats. The group has toured in Germany, Turkey, Uganda, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Finland and Russia.
The Shrine Synchro System tours in ever-changing lineups, always with DJs Rita Ray and Max Reinhardt at the heart and soul, with a variety of local and international musicians and cultural collaborators.
Rita Ray is a club and radio DJ and she and Max revitalised the global dance scene in London. She plays at clubs all over Europe and Africa and appears regularly on BBC TV, World Service, Radio 3 as guest and presenter. Rita also arranges and produces records and programmes international music festivals in London.
Max is also a club DJ, music writer and compiler and a radio presenter. He contributes to the BBC World Service in flight, BBC Radio 3 and is also a musical director. With Rita he has put together a host of innovative club nights in London and beyond. Max also programmes international music festivals in London.
For the Zanzibar 2006 shows, DJs Rita and Max are joined by VJ/filmmaker and projectionist Lisa Cazzato and Atongo Zimba and BREIS (see separate profiles) - British based musicians of West African origin, as well as more familiar faces from Tanzania.
Recordings:
There are three Shrine compilations “Afrobeat, The Funkiest Music Ever Made”, “Afrodigital, Future Sounds From The Motherland” on Ocho Records and “Indestructible African Beats” on the Manteca label.
With thanks to support from British Council [logo]
UKOO FLANI MAUMAU (Kenya)
Kilio Cha Haki (A Cry for Justice) was recorded in 2004 and has already achieved the status of African hiphop classic. The album was produced in a month in a temporary makeshift studio in a flat in the slums by 37 Kenyan rappers from the Eastlands ghettos of Nairobi with Dutch and American support. In a major collaborative effort these Kenyan hiphop artists joined forces with producers from Amsterdam’s Rednose Distrikt to create a project with positive messages and head-nod kicks that call to mind acts like Saian Supa Crew, Arrested Development, A Tribe Called Quest and The Pharcyde.
‘Kilio cha Haki’ is a fusion of different styles, cultures and backgrounds, but most of all it is an expression of the plight and struggle of the youth in the ghettos and slums of Nairobi. It presents not only Kenyans but people the world over, with the opportunity to reflect on the political corruption, criminality, poverty, AIDS and other scourges affecting urban youth.
With the help and support of the NCDO (Netherlands Commission for International Cooperation and Sustainable Development) and UpToYouToo, all proceeds from the sale of ‘Kilio cha Haki’ are going towards the creation of a permanent studio in Eastlands. This will help to give young Kenyans a voice and demonstrates how hip hop and music can be an alternative to drugs and crime; a source of income; a means of voicing social and political protest.
“Hip hop is vital/throw your fist in the air worldwide up in here/ represent your sphere/hip hop is global” (from ‘All over The World’)
The project features some of Kenya’s greatest rappers, alongside up-and-coming new talent performing in Swahili, Sheng and English. The notoriously dangerous Dandora neighbourhood is represented by Ukooflani Mau Mau, a group of MCs including veteran rappers Kalamashaka and Mashifta. Kalamashaka along with their collective Ukoo Flani Mau Mau Camp represent the real underground hiphop. Every ghetto loves them but the media show them little love because they are so raw.
The hard-hitting lyrics put this album into context. This starts with the plaintively sung intro (in English): “I was born in the street. I was born in the slum, raised in the slum. In the valley of Mathare.” As the album continues, the reality of living in Nairobi slums hits hard: here are songs about political corruption, AIDS, gun crime, prejudice, poverty, abortions, rapes and death.
It's a long way from the bling-bling culture or glorification of violence in the majority of the US hip-hop lyrics. The Eastlands MCs impress with their brilliant flow, which would put a lot of US rappers to shame. Musically the album is very varied with stand-out tracks being the jazzy “Fanya Tena”, “Sisi” with its beatboxing and the dubby, Lingala-influenced “Pesa Pesa”.
WAGOSI WA KAYA (Tanzania)
This Tanga - based group has at its core the two artists Frederick Mariki aka Mkoloni and John Simba aka Dr John. Wagosi wa Kaya comes from the Sambaa language, meaning home boys. They joined together to form the group in 1996 and started to perform in concerts around Tanga region but after a very short period their popularity quickly grew and they became a household name all over Tanzania. Their style of music is unique, original and fresh though under the broad umbrella of Swahili hiphop bongo flava.
Wagosi wa Kaya touched the hearts of their many fans who were mostly poor people, because of their potent and critical lyrics, and the amusing way in which they deliver. They mostly sing about problems facing Tanzanian society like hospital conditions, corruption in the police and other areas as well as the poor performance of Tanzania’s national soccer team. Their song ‘Tanga Kunani?’ (What’s going on in Tanga?) was banned by Tanga’s regional commissioner saying that it degraded the true face of his region. The group represents a creative and positive face of Swahili hiphop, singing in an accent that is funny and deliberately with a broad dialect of the Tanga region.
The group has already released three albums, Ukweli Mtupu (2001), Ripoti Kamili (2003) and Nyeti (2005). Wagosi wa Kaya is one of the most original groups in bongo flava and a must for any self-respecting Swahili music festival.
ZEMKALA (Tanzania)
Founded in 2003 by artists Kasembe Ungani and Fadhili Mkenda who were both originally with Sisi Tambala, Zemkala is a six-piece band performing a style of music known as ngwashala with its roots from the south of Tanzania. Most of the songs they play have Tanzanian roots, combining tradition and creativity.
Four men in the group play instruments while the two women sing and dance. Their performances are very explosive and energetic, strong testament to the long hours the group puts into practicing. Zemkala perform mostly in festivals and community campaigns organised by various organisations including Population Services International (PSI), Save the Children, AMREF etc. The group’s vision is to play a leading part in establishing an identity for the face of Tanzania music scene as well as to encourage more young people to gain self-respect and pride in their culture. Zemkala has travelled extensively around Tanzania and also performed in Kisumu (Kenya). They plan to record an album in 2006.