Traditional music and dance
With nearly 125 ethnic groups, Tanzania boasts a colossal wealth of traditional music and dance. While these vary from one community to another, they all have a common function - to do with work, war, religion and so on. Among the best-known musical expressions is Mitamba Yalagala Kumchuzi, music performed on goblet drums, cylindrical drums and tin rattles. The same people also perform mdundiko, ritual dances associated with marriage and puberty celebrations for young women.
Among the Gogo ethnic group, we find a highly varied repertoire of music with various functions, such as makumbi, which accompanies initiation rites, masumbi, entertainment music, or msunyhuno, used to attract rain. This well-documented repertoire can be heard on two fine compilations released in 2001 and 2002 on the Ocora and VDE labels. The Gogo ethnic group is also that of Hukwe Zawose, one of the best-known Tanzanian musicians of the 20th century and an illustrious player of theillimba, a large lamellophone cousin of the mbira . The other great artist of traditional Tanzanian music is Saida Karoli, a famous singer inspired by traditional Tanzanian tunes, singing in particular in haya, and who has racked up several very big hits in Tanzania.
That said, to hear the best-known (and most heard) Tanzanian musical tradition in the world, you have to turn to the archipelago of Zanzibar. This is where the bewitching taarab originated. A pillar of Zanzibari identity, this crossbred music is a fusion of styles combining sung African poetry, percussion, string instruments inherited from Egypt, influences from Western India and the legacy of Bantu rites, and tells the story of a country at the crossroads of the spice route. His lyrics celebrate love, and he is usually accompanied by a full orchestra of up to 40 instruments, including string instruments such as the zither, oud, violin and cello, as well as accordions and neys (a Persian flute), and a whole collection of handcrafted percussion instruments. It's worth noting that, in a very traditional society where gender inequalities are still very strong, two of the most influential taarab stars are women: Siti binti Saad and Bi Kidude. The former (1880-1950) is THE taarab legend. Embodying this music for almost a century, the "mother of taarab " was, as early as the 1920s, the first to produce commercial titles in Arabic and Swahili, thus extending the reach of this music to an international sphere of listeners. The second taarab legend is Bi Kidude (1910-2013). Famous for her longevity and musical talent, she embodied taarab for over 80 years alongside Siti binti Saad, imprinting the genre with her distinctive voice. In the younger generation, Siti Muharam, great-granddaughter of the legend Siti binti Saad, is remarkable for her willingness to plunge tradition into modernity. Then there's Siti Amina, a charismatic oud player and singer, who is also heir to Siti binti Saad in her own way, bringing together a wide range of Zanzibari aesthetics such as ngoma and Zenji Flava. These are the artists, icons and members of the young guard, who take Taarab culture wherever Swahili is spoken.
In addition to the excellent 2009 Franco-German documentary Zanzibar musical club, the best way to explore taarab is to visit the DCMA (Dhow Countries Music Academy) in Stone Town. Founded in 2002 by an NGO and renowned musician Mohamed Issa Haji (commonly known as " Matona ") to preserve, develop and promote the musical heritage of Zanzibar and the Swahili coast, this institution is home to some 600 students studying the region's traditional music. Don't miss this show, held daily from 8pm to midnight at the institution, which costs TSH 20,000 and features different styles of traditional music and song every evening. You can also book dinner on the intimate rooftop of Emerson on Hurumzi at the Tea House Restaurant to attend. You can hear and see ngoma and taarab at the incredible The Secret Garden restaurant, also in Stone Town, the most scenic venue in the green, illuminated ruins.
In addition to taarab, Zanzibar also cultivates many other traditional genres. The other mainstay of the island is ngoma. This Swahili word for "percussion" encompasses all forms of dance, games and rhythm, and celebrates life and culture. There are many variations in Tanzania, some of which originate from Unguja and Pemba. Each tribe has its own style of ngoma, with songs, traditional costumes (usually a sophisticated dress) and specific percussion instruments. The marimba is the traditional percussion instrument of Bantu ngoma rhythms. It consists of a small rectangular wooden resonance box on which iron rods are mounted in descending order of size.
There's also the kidumbak, a cousin of the taarab, but more popular with the poorer classes. Used to produce the latest fashionable hits, many youngsters try their hand in bands before being admitted to the more prestigious circles of taarab orchestras. Usually, a solo instrument takes care of the melody, often a violin (played quite frenetically), accompanied by a sanduku (a home-made contrabassoon), two small clay percussion instruments(ki-dumbak) and various other percussive instruments. The music is more rhythmic than taarab, the dance more sensual, and the lyrics less drastic. Sina Chuki Kidumbak is a popular ensemble in this genre.
Derived from ngoma, let's not forget to mentionunyago, a musical form played for Swahili brides before marriage. This ceremony teaches make-up, sexual intimacy and cooking, with very explicit movements and words to initiate young girls into giving pleasure to their husbands. Bi Kidude, the star of Zanzibar music, often played it. There's also beni, originally created to poke fun at English colonial military bands, whose groups originally performed at weddings and street parades in burlesque costume.
Zanzibar's musical tradition is particularly rich, and the Sauti Za Busara festival, held in February in Stone Town, offers an excellent overview of the field. This four-day event, one of the biggest in East Africa, was created in 2003 to promote traditional and contemporary music, and has been a phenomenal success. Since it's free, all the locals come to Stone Town to enjoy it. It begins with a parade through the town, a sort of carnival with stilt-walkers, acrobats, percussionists and a beni brass band, which moves from the dala dala terminal to the waterfront. Around 400 artists perform in over 40 concerts on 3 stages each year.
Popular music
One of Tanzania's most distinctive musical flavors is without doubt dansi. Short for " muziki wa dansi " (meaning "dance music") and also known as "Swahili jazz", the genre dates back to the 1930s, when it first appeared in the Dar es Salaam region. Spurred on by the success of soukous (the Congolese national genre) throughout East Africa, dansi is in fact a local translation of this style in the hands of pioneering groups such as the Dar es Salaam Jazz Band (founded in 1932) and Morogoro Jazz. These groups became very popular in the 1960s, when they were joined by new ensembles such as the NUTA Jazz Band, Orchestra Safari Sound, Orchestra Maquis Original, International Orchestra Safari Sound and the DDC Mlimani Park Orchestra, all of whom helped the genre flourish.
Incidentally, these groups were run like businesses, and the musicians were treated like employees. This explains why the most talented musicians moved from one group to another, lured by better offers. Bands became rivals, and mitindo (Swahili for "styles") was their best way of distinguishing themselves.
Current music
In the 1990s, local youth began to turn to pop and bongo flava, the Tanzanian translation of hip-hop. Heavily influenced by American rap, it also incorporates elements of dancehall, reggae, afrobeat, r&b and sometimes even traditional taarab musical instruments to offer a unique flavor. While this alternative, musically rich movement initially denounced corruption, poverty and social injustice, and advocated militancy, the style has drifted - following in the footsteps of its American big brother - towards a more stereotyped genre, designed for sales and very self-tuned, if not of poor quality. Since the age of the pioneers, epitomized by Mr. II, the author of Ni Mimi, Bongo Flava's first hit in 1995, many stars have energized the genre, such as Diamond Platnumz, today's undisputed king. Like many other East African countries, Tanzania also boasts a dynamic, avant-garde electronic music scene. The local genre is called singeli, a frenetic electro sound from the slums of Dar es Salaam, proudly promoted by artists such as Sisso, Jay Mitta and Makaveli. Once confidential and reserved for a purely local audience, the genre has now been exported to clubs the world over, thanks in particular to the work of the fabulous Ugandan label, Nyege Nyege Tapes.
This feverish aesthetic can be found at local " party parties " (pronounced " paty paty "). Tanzanians love to party, dance and go out to small bars. In small towns and even villages, you'll always find a beacon in the night, with a good stereo and a DJ, equipped with powerful, thundering speakers to dance the night away. Or the huge clubs of Dar es Salaam, a vibrant nightlife that's impossible to ignore.
