Filed under: Tanzania
Sunburst was founded in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in 1970 by by guitarist Hembi Flory Kongo – who was originally from Zaïre. After playing the city’s clubs, they were introduced to a larger audience via a live session for the state-owned Radio Tanzania. They eventually went to Kenya to record their first two singles.
In 1974, Sunburst met Zambian musician Rikki Ililonga from Zamrock group Musi-O-Tunya and he invited them to Zambia. Meeting their later manager, Peter Bagshawe, they embarked on an ill-fated tour with Kenyan funk band Matata before working on a first full album in 1976 in Lusaka with new band members. After the release of the album, they recorded three more singles for the Tanzanian state label Tanzania Film Company and then called it quits.
Strut reissued their album Ave Africa. The release includes all of their singles and radio sessions.
Catalog number FWBO 9301 on RCA Victor of France. Released 1973.
Filed under: Tanzania
According to Kelly Askew’s Performing the Nation: Swahili Music and Cultural Politics in Tanzania, Lucky Star Musical Club formed in 1970. They were the house band for the club of the same name in Tanga, Tanzania. Unlike their local compatriots / rivals Black Star Musical Club, Lucky Star Musical Club had more songs that were explicitly politically oriented. They were known to sing the government’s praises, “serving as de facto government praise poets” – which was unusual for a Taarab band. Typically, most Taarab songs are about love: Love lost, love gained, love desired.
They released over 20 singles on numerous labels in both in Tanzania and Kenya as well as one album under the name Lucky Star Jazz Band.
Catalog number US 60 on Uhuru Stars of Tanzania. No release date listed.
Filed under: Tanzania
Taarab is a music genre popular in Tanzania, as well as neighboring Kenya. Much like Dangdut music of Indonesia, you can hear the Arabic and Indian influences that are a result of the cross-pollination with trade routes across the Indian Ocean.
Taarab is believed to have originated in Egypt, with their film orchestras provided an important model in the ’50s. More recently, Egyptian and Lebanese pop and especially Hindi film music have influenced the music’s melodies and vocal styles. Taarab songs explore romance and marriage, though their stylized Swahili poetry can suggest political interpretations. The instrumentation can include African drums, tablas, dumbek, riq, oud, qanun, taishōgoto, as well as organ and accordion. There is also usually guitar and bass, but often get lost in the mix with the violins and cellos.
The only information that I have been able to find on J. K. T. Taarab, is that they were from Tanzania’s capitol, Dar es Salaam. For more information on Taarab music, check out Likembe – where you can find some tracks by Jasmin Musical Club and Shani Musical Club, as well as a few others – and Afropop.org.
Catalog number AHD (MC) 034 on FLATIM Records / Ahadi Productions of Nairobi, Kenya. No release date listed.
Note: The song Mcheza Bao is cut short due to the fact that the side of the cassette ends before the song does.
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