RhoDeo 1403 Roots

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Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged on 26 April 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. On 29 October of the same year, the country was renamed United Republic of Tanzania. Over 100 different (tribal) languages are spoken in Tanzania, the first language typically learned by a Tanzanian is that of his or her ethnic group, with Swahili and English learned thereafter. Zanzibar is about 97 percent Muslim. On the mainland, Muslim communities are concentrated in coastal areas, with some large Muslim majorities also in inland urban areas especially and along the former caravan routes. The country is rich in wildlife and natural resources, much of it's arable land is still underused, in short plenty of potential for Tanzanians future, that is if its muslims can keep the fundamentalists at bay if not, there's plenty of old hatred left towards the muslim slavetraders of old and how quickly Christian and Muslim populations can be at eachothers throat can be seen currently in the Central African Republic.

The first popular music craze in Tanzania was in the early 1930s, when Cuban Rumba was widespread. Young Tanzanians organized themselves into dance clubs like the Dar es Salaam Jazz Band, which was founded in 1932. Local bands at the time used brass and percussion instruments, later adding strings. Bands like Morogoro Jazz and Tabora Jazz were formed. The 1970s saw the popularization a laid-back sound popularized by Orchestre Safari Sound and Orchestre Maquis Original. These groups adopted the motto "Kamanyola bila jasho" (dance Kamanyola without sweating). Maquis hailed from Lubumbashi in southeastern Zaire, moving to Dar es Salaam in the early 70s. This was a common move at the time, bringing elements of soukous from the Congo basin. Maquis introduced many new dances over the years. The most recent permutation of Tanzanian dance music is mchiriku. Bands like Gari Kubwa, Tokyo Ngma and Atomic Advantage are among the pioneers of this style, which uses four drums and a keyboard for a sparse sound.

Taarab music is a fusion of pre-Islamic Swahili tunes sung in rhythmic poetic style spiced with general Islamic melodies. It is an extremely lively art form springing from a classical culture, still immensely popular with women, drawing all the time from old and new sources. Taarab forms a major part of the social life of the Swahili people along the coastal areas; especially Zanzibar, Tanga and even further in Mombasa and Malindi along the Kenya coast. Wherever the Swahili speaking people travelled, Tarabu culture moved with them. These days a taarab revolution is taking place and much heated debate continues about the music which has been changed drastically. Today, taarab songs are explicit - sometimes even graphic - in sexual connotation, and much of the music of groups like Melody and Muungano is composed and played on keyboards, increasing portability, hence the group is much smaller in number than 'real taarab' orchestras and therefore more readily available to tour and play shows throughout the region and beyond.

Global popular culture, particularly U.S. hip hop, has played a major role in influencing Tanzanian culture since its independence. This is most evident among Tanzanian urban youth, who have absorbed global hip hop music and produced their own varieties... Bongo Flava

....N'joy

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A strong sampling of the popular and traditional music of these East African coastal neighbors, this covers most of the waterfront, although at least three omissions are worth noting -- the great Hukwe Zawose from Tanzania, probably the country's greatest living traditional musician, singer Remmy Ongala, and Kenya's Ayub Ogada, who's gone on to become quite a name on the European world music circuit. Get past that, however, and there's plenty to go at. It starts off with some engaging pop music from the grea Simba Wanyika, and contiues to get dancier and jazzier as the CD progesses. Listening to the first few songs, its easy to draw some parralels between this music, and say, Jazz or Carribean music, as well as certain west African music traditions (juju and afro-beat spring to mind). The Victoria Kings provide some driving benga music, perfectly typical of Kenya's most popular sound, while Simba Wanyika offers his personal take on the Swahili rumba he played for more than two decades. Singer Samba Mapangala has the title cut to his 1996 album Vunja Mifupa, with some fabulous guitar work and horns behind Kenya's greatest modern voice. From their own country, Mlimani Park Orchestra offer a quintessential Tanzanian dance music experience, with three guitars, horns, and some exquisite vocal harmonies propelling traditional melodies for an irresistible fusion. There's a strong Swahili culture (Taarab) across the countries, and stretching into Zanzibar, and this compilation does achieve balance by having that represented from the Culture Music Club (who do actually hail from Zanzibar) and Mombasa's Zein Musical Party. So while it may not be the all-inclusive album to do full justice to the region, it remains an excellent introduction, which was always the aim.

The Rough Guide To The Music Of Kenya and Tanzania   (flac  406mb)

01 Simba Wanyika - Mwongele 5:28
02 Victoria Kings - V.B. Pod Wamol 4:55
03 Samba Mapangala - Vunja Mifupa 5:31
04 D.O. Misiani & Shirati Jazz - Piny Ose Mer 5:49
05 Abana Ba Nasery - Esiesi Siolle 5:19
06 Henry Makobi - Likuta Bibi 3:52
07 Ogwang Lelo Okoth With Paddy J. Onono - Jacob Omolo 3:53
08 Master Musicians Of Tanzania - Tanzania Yetu 8:35
09 'Moheme' Dance Tanzania - Wagogo Initiation Dance 6:44
10 Milimani Park Orchestra - Edita 5:31
11 Juwata Jazz Band - Usia Kwa Watoto 6:30
12 Zein Musical Party - Mtindo Wa Mombasa 5:06
13 Culture Musical Club - Sibadili 4:51

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The East African nations of Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda and Southern Somalia were all either a part of or heavily influenced by the Swahili civilization, whose prototype emerged as an indigenous civilization as early as 100 BC. The civilization flourished independent of foreign political domination until 1500 AD, when the combination of European Imperialism and Middle Eastern expansionists raped and pillaged the Swahili and forced them into a cycle of destruction against themselves and their neighbors inland. Regardless, the East African spirit has perservered and found independence through unity. Like Mali, whose ancient heritage has created a sophistication in their music that they lead Africa's musical creativity, the combined legacy of Tanzania's Swahili civilization and their remarkable inland people such as the Maasai can bring forth this country for the rest of the world to hear. If you want to hear the development of such unity in the form of classical Swahili music alongside Maasai youth embracing African American culture through Hip Hop, then there is no better place to start than this compilation.

On the East African coast, Tanzania has recently emerged from State control of its music to much greater independence. These days, instead of one mainstream -- muziki wa dansi -- there are three, including the Arabic-sounding taarab and the younger bongo flava that includes singers like Saida Karoli. On Rough Guide to the Music of Tanzania, Karoli performs in a spare, acoustic setting. The disc includes the R&B (with local influence) of Dataz and the hip-hop of X Plastaz. What sticks in the mind for than anything else, however, are the bands like Ottu Jazz Band or the late Ndala Kasheba, whose 12-string guitar powered his band on music influenced by Congolese soukous. The taarab really stands alone, a style utterly apart, and quite beautiful in its ornamentation. Compiler Werner Graebner has included a pair of more traditional tracks, one from the Master Musicians of Tanzania, founded by the late, great Hukwe Zawose.

Rough Guide To The Music Of Tanzania  (flac 398mb)

01 Vijana Jazz Band - Tambiko 5:59
02 X Plastaz - Dunia Dudumizi 4:25
03 Saida Karoli - Omukaile Kilinjwi 5:45
04 Ikhwani Safaa Musical Club - Vingaravyo 6:15
05 Mlimani Park Orchestra - Rehema 5:47
06 The Master Musicians Of Tanzania - Lukunzi 4:44
07 Mohammed Issa Matona - Msumeno 6:46
08 Ndala Kasheba - Nimlilie Nani? 5:27
09 Dataz - Mume Wa Mtu 4:33
10 Nia Safi & Imani Ngoma Group - Kibati 6:35
11 Ottu Jazz Band - Piga Ua 8:35

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Afric Simone (born 17 July 1956) is a singer, musician, and entertainer from Mozambique.[1] He entered the European charts with his first hit "Ramaya" in 1975, which was followed by another well-known song "Hafanana" (1975). He was very popular from 1975 to 1980 on both sides of the iron curtain. Simone toured the USSR, Poland, the GDR, and Czechoslovakia in the Eastern Bloc.
He was born in Brazil, to a Brazilian father and Mozambique-origin mother, but at the age of 9 (after his father's death) he and his mother had to move to her motherland Mozambique on the east coast of Africa, in the capital city Lourenço Marques, now Maputo. Once, when he appeared on stage in Maputo, his manager asked him to come to London. With first steps in show business in London, he has gathered invaluable experience for appearances in other European capitals. He gathered experience in doing gigs all over Europe. He was lucky that Eddie Barclay, the French record tycoon went to see a show in Paris. They immediately signed the contract.

Afric Simone speaks German, English, Portuguese, French, Spanish and various African languages, however his songs are written in the mixture of Swahili and few words from other languages. This idea resulted in a mixture of his own native tongue and European Happy Sound. Simone is also said to have pioneered the arts of Break Dancing and Beat Boxing as can be seen in his live performances, for instance in the televised performance of his song Playa Blanca c. 1975.Recently he settled in Germany (in Berlin) with a Russian wife whom he met a few years ago at the music festival "Discoteque 80's" in Moscow, and has been appearing in TV shows in France, Italy, Germany and Lithuania. The album here, Hafanana is defacto a reshuffled version of Afric's 75 album Ramaya

Afric Simone - Hafanana (flac  230mb)

01 Hafanana 2:59
02 Ramaya 3:29
03 Jumbo Jet 3:03
04 Vagabundo 3:42
05 Mira El Toro 3:15
06 Curare 4:51
07 Sahara 3:25
08 Salome 3:49
09 Wakididi 2:49
10 Piranha 2:52
11 Todo Pasara Maria 3:18

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