Post by Yona Maro on Sept 4, 2005 2:35:04 GMT -5
Open the pages of Dar es Salaam's Swahili language daily Uhuru (called Mzalendo on Sundays) and you'll come across two or more pages of advertisements for live music: About 20 of these list the big names in muziki wa dansi (dance music) like DDC Mlimani Park, International Orchestra Safari Sound, Juwata Jazz, Maquis Original, Super Matimila, Vijana Jazz, etc. Add to these the lesser names and the various performances by groups that combine ngoma, taarab, and theater and you've got a live music scene hardly equaled in any of Africa's cities.
Aside from a few discos and posh hotels like the Kilimanjaro and New Africa that feature dinner-dance music for tourists and local upstarts, central Dar es Salaam is dry as far as music is concerned. Almost all the bars and dance halls that feature live music are located in residential areas like Kinondoni, Magomeni, Manzese, Msasani, Mwenge, Ubungo, Yombo and as far as Kimara about twenty kilometers from town.
Throughout the week the bands rotate through the different parts of town. Transportation is difficult especially at night and this arrangement gives almost everybody a chance to have their favorite band within walking distance once a week, or at least every couple of weeks. On weekends (Saturday night and Sunday afternoon) the bands play their home base. Sometimes home is a bar or dance hall run by the same people or organization owning the instruments. Other times, it might be a place where bands have a special arrangement with the owner – a place where they can rehearse, store their instruments, and maintain an office.
Tanzania's foremost dance band, DDC Mlimani Park Orchestra, was highlighted in the Africassette release titled Sikinde (Africassette 9402). The CD, Muziki wa Dansi, introduces three more bands that, with Mlimani, belong at the top of Tanzania’s dance music hierarchy. With their formation in 1985, International Orchestra Safari Sound set out to become Mlimani's strongest competition on the Dar scene. Their style, especially the singing, is somethimes quite similar to the Mlimani sound. This shouldn’t be any surprise, however, as numberous musicians have moved back and forth between the two groups.
Juwata Jazz is Dar's oldest surviving band. It has served as a breeding ground for many of Tanzania's best musicians, including members of both Mlimani and Safari Sound. Juwata's rough sound and brassy arrangements form a marked contrast to Orchestra Maquis Original. Many of Maquis' leading members hail from eastern Zaire. To the outsider, their style (especially the vocal harmonies) may sometimes sound close to Kinshasa soukous. However, it would be misleading to say that Maquis play in a Zairean style. To the contrary, even their Lingala numbers show Maquis' roots in a specifically East African music culture.
Aside from a few discos and posh hotels like the Kilimanjaro and New Africa that feature dinner-dance music for tourists and local upstarts, central Dar es Salaam is dry as far as music is concerned. Almost all the bars and dance halls that feature live music are located in residential areas like Kinondoni, Magomeni, Manzese, Msasani, Mwenge, Ubungo, Yombo and as far as Kimara about twenty kilometers from town.
Throughout the week the bands rotate through the different parts of town. Transportation is difficult especially at night and this arrangement gives almost everybody a chance to have their favorite band within walking distance once a week, or at least every couple of weeks. On weekends (Saturday night and Sunday afternoon) the bands play their home base. Sometimes home is a bar or dance hall run by the same people or organization owning the instruments. Other times, it might be a place where bands have a special arrangement with the owner – a place where they can rehearse, store their instruments, and maintain an office.
Tanzania's foremost dance band, DDC Mlimani Park Orchestra, was highlighted in the Africassette release titled Sikinde (Africassette 9402). The CD, Muziki wa Dansi, introduces three more bands that, with Mlimani, belong at the top of Tanzania’s dance music hierarchy. With their formation in 1985, International Orchestra Safari Sound set out to become Mlimani's strongest competition on the Dar scene. Their style, especially the singing, is somethimes quite similar to the Mlimani sound. This shouldn’t be any surprise, however, as numberous musicians have moved back and forth between the two groups.
Juwata Jazz is Dar's oldest surviving band. It has served as a breeding ground for many of Tanzania's best musicians, including members of both Mlimani and Safari Sound. Juwata's rough sound and brassy arrangements form a marked contrast to Orchestra Maquis Original. Many of Maquis' leading members hail from eastern Zaire. To the outsider, their style (especially the vocal harmonies) may sometimes sound close to Kinshasa soukous. However, it would be misleading to say that Maquis play in a Zairean style. To the contrary, even their Lingala numbers show Maquis' roots in a specifically East African music culture.
