Festival Programme (PDF 6MB)

Transcription

...100% LIVE - Full Mzuka!!! 1
Donors and Sponsors 2013
NGO Donor
Principal Donor
Main Donors & Sponsors
Other Supporters
With thanks also to: Alliance Française, Allykeys, Archipelago Restaurant, Mercury's Restaurant,
Monsoon Restaurant, SMOLE II, Stone Town Café, www.zanzibar.net, Zanlink
2 Ten Years of Celebrating African Music
Contents
16
7 Welcome
from Festival Director
8 THURSDAY 14
9 FRIDAY 15
10 SATURDAY 16
Festival Artists A-Z
12
11 SUNDAY 17
12 African Music Films
14 Busara Xtra
15 Movers & Shakers
networking forum
African Music Films
56
16 Festival Artists A-Z
48 Ten Years
of Celebrating African Music
50 Busara Through The Year
55 Busara Top Ten CDs
56 Cheikh Lô
Cheikh Lô
Designed and published by: Busara Promotions
PO Box 3635, Zanzibar, Tanzania
Senegalese soul of many
colours
63 Timetable
Welcome from Festival Director
Karibu sana and welcome to ‘the friendliest
festival on the planet’. As we prepare the 10th
edition, we ask ourselves: is Sauti za Busara
making a difference? How has the festival
contributed to life in Zanzibar and East Africa?
In a world too divided by politics, economics
and religious sectarianism, the imperative for
building bridges of friendship and respect is too
important. Music can be a powerful catalyst for
bringing people together. At Sauti za Busara,
where artists and audiences come from most
corners of the planet, the universal language is
music: it communicates to each and every one
of us.
One of the world’s greatest jazz pianists, Omar
Sosa, whilst collaborating with local musicians
on a recent tour in East Africa noted he sees
the world as a big house, with different rooms.
“If we all want to have the chance to go from
one room to the other, we must cohabit, value
each other, empathise and get along with each
other, in harmony”.
Sauti za Busara keeps traditions alive. The
festival employs local people, all earning a
living whilst building skills that improve their
job opportunities throughout the year. Since
we started in 2004, when February used
to be low season, the number of visitors to
Zanzibar around festival time has increased
by more than 500%, with mid-February now
peak-season. Visitors to the island are warmly
welcome, especially those who tread slowly
and with respect for local ways.
Kilua dancer at SzB 2012 (photo: Robin Batista)
As noted in The East African newspaper, “Sauti
za Busara makes you believe in African unity.
The festival embodies the side of Africa that
brings together the best of the past and what a
good future might hold.” Our world view shows
Africa as a rich, warm and vibrant continent,
where people are united and together as one.
Thank you, to Team Busara and all the
musicians, staff, crew, donors and sponsors.
Thanks to the people of Zanzibar, the media
who spread the word, to all friends and
supporters. Your support keeps Sauti za
Busara alive and helps us to grow, step by
step - always forwards, never backwards.
We celebrate our achievements only by
recognising it would not be possible without
you.
Enjoy the festival and may your time in
Zanzibar be filled with magical and precious
moments.
Yusuf Mahmoud
Festival Director, 2004-2013
THURSDAY 14 - Busara Xtra
Tausi
10:00am Taarab
rehearsal
Dance and
10:00am DrUmming
Class
Kisiwandui
Zanzibar Town
Dhow Countries Music Academy
(Old Customs House)
FRIDAY 15 - Old Fort
5:00pm
Wanafunzi
wa SOS
These "wanafunzi" (students) are a group of
orphans who promote peace and stability for
women and children through the performance
of traditional music.
5:50pm
Safi
Theatre
Group
Amazing acrobatics, energetic dancing, and
ngoma music from Dar es Salaam.
7:05pm
Zanzibar
Unyago
The alluring and ancient drum and dance ritual
for the young women of the Swahili coast,
performed by the group of the legendary Bi
Kidude.
A "koliko" cowboy from the farms of Ghana
who composes in Fra Fra, Hausa, Ga, English
and Twi.
4:00pm
Sunset
Reggae
Party
4:00pm
Nadi Ikhwan NIS Club House
Safaa
Kokoni, Stone Town
7:35pm
Atongo
Zimba
5:00pm
As Old As
My Tongue
(Screening)
Hot Spot Bistro
Kenyatta Rd, Stone Town
8:20pm
Nawal & Les
Mystic pop diva, bringing Sufi chants from the
Femmes de
Comoros Islands.
la Lune
6:00pm
CULTURE
MUSICAL
CLUB
Serena Inn
9:35pm
N'Faly
Kouyaté
Hailing from Guinea, he's known as the Jimi
Hendrix of the Kora.
7:00pm
Sinachuki
Kidumbak
Mercury's Restaurant
10:40pm
Nathalie
Natiembe
From Reunion comes a voice like no other,
maloya (local Blues) plus much more
8:45pm
Maulidi ya
Homu ya
Mtendeni
Haile Selassie School, Creek Rd
11:40pm Sigoma
Owiny
Hypnotic Afro grooves from a cross-continental
collaboration between the Luo of Kenya and
London.
9:00pm
Sadiq
Live (old
Taarab)
Gymkhana
Zanzibar Town
12:40am Park
Kae Funk
Michamvi
Band
Mlimani
Orchestra
Tanzania's most popular muziki wa dansi band
of all time.
SATURDAY 16 - Old Fort
SUNDAY 17 - Old Fort
5:00pm
Mani Martin
This popular Rwandan artist sings R&B, Pop
and Gospel, mixing traditional and modern
styles for a unique sound all of his own.
5:00pm
Young
Stars DCMA
See the next generation's music stars today,
the best and brightest from Zanzibar's own
Dhow Countries Music Academy.
6:00pm
Lumumba
Theatre
Crowd favorites from Dar es Salaam, their
high-energy dancing sets them apart.
6:00pm
Msafiri
Zawose &
Sauti Band
The son of the great Hukwe Zawose, Msafiri
continues his father's legacy of traditional
Gogo music.
7:10pm
Wakwetu
Jazz Vibes
& Peter
Msechu
Peter Msechu, famous from Bongo Star
Search and Tusker's Project Fame, coming
to you now for a special performance with
Wakwetu Jazz Vibes.
7:05pm
Culture
Musical
Club
Established in 1958, this is Zanzibar's most
prolific and successful taarab orchestra.
8:20pm
Sousou
& Maher
Cissoko
A griot from Senegal and a Swedish kora
player make for one unforgettable duo.
8:20pm
Atongo
Zimba
A "koliko" cowboy from the farms of Ghana
who composes in Fra Fra, Hausa, Ga, English
and Twi.
9:30pm
Burkina
Electric
The first electronic music group from Burkina
Faso, hailed by the New York Times as "an
irresistable brew of West African music and
electronica.
9:00pm
The undisputed queen of Malian desert Soul,
whose album "Timbuktu Tarab" was hailed as
Khaira Arby
one of the decade's best African albums by the
New York Times.
Owiny
10:40pm Sigoma
Band
11:40pm
Super Maya
Baikoko
12:40am Mokoomba
Winner of the Music Crossroads Inter-Regional
Festival, Makoomba has been called "the most
impressive Zimbabwe band in recent memory"
by AfroPop worldwide.
Hypnotic Afro grooves from a cross-continental
collaboration between the Luo of Kenya and
London.
10:05pm Mokoomba
The pioneers of Baikoko, the newest late-night
dance craze out of Tanga, Tanzania.
11:10pm Fatso &
Banned in Zimbabwe for 'political content,' this
insurgent act defies musical boxes, blending
spoken word, rap, hip hop, reggae and more.
Winner of the Music Crossroads Inter-Regional
Festival, Makoomba has been called "the most
impressive Zimbabwe band in recent memory"
by AfroPop worldwide."
12:15am Cheikh Lô
Discovered by Youssou N'dour, internationally
acclaimed Baye Fall artist and one of the great
mavericks of West African music.
Comrade
Chabvondoka
African Music Films
To complement the live music on the main-stage, the Old Fort’s amphitheatre has been
transformed to an open air cinema space - screening three special full-length features from Friday
to Sunday, as well as the best in African music videos.
As Old as My Tongue:
The Myth and Life of Bi Kidude
Dir: Andy Jones, Zanzibar, 2006, 66 mins
Thu 14, 5:00pm Hot Spot Bistro on Kenyatta Rd
As Old As My Tongue is an intimate portrait of one of the oldest and most
legendary performers on the world music stage today. Audiences at our
previous festivals have seen Bi Kidude perform live on stage. This film
brings takes you behind the scenes and leads you on an unforgettable
historical journey. As we travel from her humble Stone Town home to the
grandeur of Paris we witness the dramatic contrasts in the life of Zanzibar’s
asoldasmytongue.net
very own musical icon. More Than a Festival
Prod: Busara Promotions/SYNK Media, Zanzibar, 2012, 25 min
Fri 15, 8:00pm Old Fort Amphitheatre
Sauti za Busara is widely known as ‘the friendliest festival on the planet.’ This
short film takes the viewer from our humble beginnings to the 9th edition in
2012, where through the eyes of musicians, artists, festival organisers and
audiences, we see how the event has grown to attract African music lovers
from all over the world.
Omar Sosa'S Souvenirs FROM Africa
Dir: Olivier Taïeb, East Africa/France, 2010, 52 mins
Fri 15, 8:30pm Old Fort Amphitheatre
Over the course of several months, we join Omar Sosa, internationally
recognized virtuoso pianist, while he tours in Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and
Burundi, mixing jazz and Cuban music with East African influences. In each
country, he collaborates with a local musician for his new album. A selfdefined “Son of Africa” guided by Santeria spirituality, Omar Sosa sees
music as a medium and a return to origins. Full of high-energy performances
and revealing interviews, Souvenirs of Africa is a stunning trip to the edge of
www.omarsosa.com
roots music.
Benda Bilili!
Dir: Florent de la Tullaye and Renaud Barret, DRC / France,
2010, 85 mins
Sat 16, 8:20pm Old Fort Amphitheatre
Benda Bilili! follows an unlikely group of musicians in Kinshasa, capital
of the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo. Staff Benda Bilili – which
means “look beyond” – is a band of street musicians composed of four
paraplegics with polio and three able-bodied men. The film documents
the band’s struggles to survive, through the power of music, in the volatile
city. The result is an exuberant story that follows the group’s journey from
the streets to the world’s stages, culminating in the 2009 release of their
www.bendabilili.co.uk
acclaimed album Trés Trés Fort.
United States of Africa:
Beyond Hip Hop
Dir: Yanick Létourneau, Canada, 2011, 75 mins
Sun 17, 8:20pm Old Fort Amphitheatre
This feature documentary accompanies African hip hop pioneer Didier
Awadi as he crafts a new album that shines a light on black revolutionary
leaders – from Kwame Nkrumah to Thomas Sankara – who fought for the
dignity of the African people and for an independent and united Africa. On
a sprawling musical journey that takes him to some 40 countries, Awadi
meets hip hop artists like Smokey (Burkina Faso) and M-1 from Dead
Prez (United States). United States of Africa paints a compelling portrait
of a continent whose politically aware youth is refusing to lie down and
accept the role of victim. The film is a call for Africans to take control of their
www.unitedstatesofafrica.nfb.ca
continent and their destiny.
Music Shorts
DAILY, 7:00pm Old Fort Amphitheatre
Non-stop music videos from some of Africa’s most original and creative artists and film makers.
After 10pm, come to the amphitheatre to give your dancing feet a break and enjoy all the main
stage action streamed by live video feed. For a full listing of all music features and shorts please
visit: www.busaramusic.org
African Music Films screenings
supported by:
Busara Xtra
Movers & Shakers
Networking Sessions
Movers and Shakers is a friendly and informal
networking space for arts professionals to
discuss, exchange, and develop ideas on the
creative industries in East Africa and beyond.
Beyond the festival, there are many many
events that may be of interest; not only in town,
but across the island, expect to find a variety of
shows, classes, exhibitions and beach parties.
DCMA have activities each day throughout the
festival. On Friday morning there is a dance
and drumming class, you've seen it on stage now come and try it for yourself. On Saturday
there is an opportunity to enjoy more music
talent at their Open Mic stage. And on Sunday
morning there is a concert for Children (with
parent) which shall be a lot of fun. DCMA is on
the top floor of the Old Customs House - near
the Palace Museum.
What's New in African
Music
Fri 15, 3:00pm
In this session we share information on the
best new African music websites, platforms,
and networks; learn about developing trends
and opportunities in the arts; and find out more
about initiatives coming up in East Africa.
Censorship and Music
Sat 16, 3:00pm
Busara Xtra: Maulidi ya Homu at Haile Selassie School
Maulidi ya Homu
Another favourite with festival visitors is the
visually spectacular Maulidi ya Homu ya
Mtendeni. They are doing a special show at
8:45pm on Thursday night at Haile Selassie
School in Creek Rd.
See details for Thursday at page 8.
See full timetable listing at page 63 (inside
back cover).
Sessions are open to invited local and visiting
musicians, managers, venues, promoters,
festivals organisers, journalists and related arts
professionals, to meet and greet during the
festival.
This year we tackle hot topics in African media,
culture, and arts. Each session starts with a
short presentation or panel then we open the
floor for discussion and informal networking.
Speaking Truth to Power: A Panel on
Censorship and Music
Hear from a handful of festival artists and local
musicians who have experienced censorship
due to political, religious, or social pressure.
Participate in a discussion about the best ways
for cultural operators to protect and promote
freedom of expression and open dialogue
around controversial issues.
Meet the Artists
Sun 17, 3:00pm
An exclusive opportunity to meet with festival
artists. Q&A.
Busara Xtra: Mohammed Ilyas at Serena terrace
Taarab Rehearsals
On Friday there are two chances to see
Zanzibar taarab orchestras in rehearsal. Tausi
are an all women group of musicians who
play taarab music in the traditional style. Pop
in on Friday morning to see them rehearse at
Mariam Hamdani's house in Kisiwandui. Later
in the day, catch Nadi Ikwan Safaa in their club
house in old Stone Town.
VENUE: Monsoon Restaurant, Stone Town.
If you are interested in attending, please
contact Rebecca at md@busara.or.tz.
Busara Xtra: Tausi Taarab rehearsal at Kisiwandui
Festival Artists A-Z
Atongo Zimba
Ghana / UK
acoustic, roots
Fri 15, 7:35pm
Sun 17, 8:20pm
Atongo Zimba comes from the north of Ghana.
He was very young when his grandfather taught
him to make and play the koliko (or molo), a
two stringed lute, which is used throughout the
savannahs and deserts of West Africa.
His time as a child was divided between the family
farm and the regional capital of Bolgatanga. During
holidays and weekends he would run the family
cattle through farmland and forest, with other boys,
looking for feed and water for the cows. There was
a strong musical tradition amongst the cowboys
and they would play instruments such as flutes
and percussion, as well as using their voices to
make different sounds, many of which mimicked
birds and animals.
He learnt traditional songs and started to
compose his own and to use the koliko for more
complex melodies than the usual strumming. The
instrument is used for many traditional events
and to motivate farm workers, but Atongo was
interested in gearing it towards more general
entertainment and decided to travel in order to
explore the possibilities of music making as a
career. He found the compound of Fela Kuti in
Lagos, where he stayed for two years in his late
adolescence, opening the weekend shows with his
solo performances
Atonga Zimba at SzB 2006 (photo: Masoud Khamis)
He returned to Ghana, this time to Accra where
he joined a very active and creative music scene
in the 1980s and 90s, playing with Osibisa and
the Pan African Orchestra amongst others. At the
same time, he continued to develop his own solo
style, picking up ideas from highlife, jazz and funk.
Atongo composes and sings in his native Fra Fra,
Hausa, Ga, English and Twi. The themes of his
songs include power and respect in inter-personal
and inter-ethnic relationships, issues of everyday
life and development for Ghana and Africa
generally as well as romantic love and spirituality.
Atongo has released four albums in Ghana.
Since 2003 he has been based in the UK, whilst
maintaining a strong link with his home country
and its musicians. He has played numerous
festivals in Europe as well as Africa and Latin
America.
www.atongozimba.com
Recordings:
Allah Mungode, 1994; MC Combination, 1996;
Savannah Breeze, (Hippo Records 2005);
Barefoot In the Sand, 2007; Sakune Music, 2009
With thanks to Goethe
Institut
Burkina Electric
Burkina Faso / Austria
fusion, roots, urban, dance
Sat 16, 9:30pm
Hailed by the New York Times as an “irresistible
brew of West African music and electronica,”
Burkina Electric is the first electronic music group
from Burkina Faso. Based in Ouagadougou, it
is at the same time an international band, with
members also living in New York, USA. Burkina
Electric’s music combines traditions and rhythms
of Burkina Faso with contemporary electronic
dance culture, making it a trailblazer in electronic
world music. A diverse and talented group
consisting of three musicians and two dancers,
they collectively participate in the creative process
and represent disparate sounds and musical
genres from across the globe.
Rather than recycling well-known rock and funk
rhythms, Burkina Electric seeks to enrich the
fabric of electronic dance music by using unusual
rhythms that are little-known and rarely heard even
in much of Africa. These include ancient rhythms
of the Sahel, such as the Mossi peoples’ Ouaraba
and Ouenega, but also new grooves of their own
creation. The result is an exploration and fusion of
musical styles both experimental and entertaining.
Award-winning singer Maï Lingani, a star in
Burkina Faso because of her unique voice and
charismatic stage presence, sings in Moré,
Dioula, Bissa, and French. Wende K. Blass, one
of Burkina’s premier guitarists, contributes soulful
guitar melodies. New York-based drummer/
electronicist Lukas Ligeti is an international
composer, well known for his nonconformity,
diverse interests, and imagination, he has received
commissions from prominent groups such as
Kronos Quartet, Bang on a Can All Stars, and
American Composers Orchestra. Vicky and Zoko
Zoko are skilled dancers/choreographers who
bring high energy and sharp moves, and also
contribute powerful vocals.
A self-released CD, Rêem Tekré, featured 4
songs by Burkina Electric plus remixes of these
songs by DJ Spooky, Paul de Jong of The
Books, Rupert Huber of Tosca, Badawi, and
Mapstation; the group’s debut full-length album,
Paspanga, was released in 2010 by the New York
label Cantaloupe Music, and is now available
worldwide.
www.burkinaelectric.com
Recordings:
Rêem Tekré, 2007; Paspanga, 2010
With thanks to Goethe
Institut
Cheikh Lô
well. The following year he started to work on the
compositions for his album ‘Ne La Thiass’.
Senegal
Youssou N’Dour first encountered Lô as a session
singer in 1989. “Whenever he sang the choruses I
was overwhelmed by his voice,” explains N’Dour,
“but I really got to know him from his cassette
‘Doxandeme’. I heard his voice and said “wow” - I
found something in his voice that’s like a voyage
through Burkina, Niger, Mali”.
roots, spiritual
Sun 17, 12:15am
Cheikh Lô is one of the great mavericks of African
music. A superb singer and songwriter as well as
a distinctive guitarist, percussionist and drummer
he has personalised and distilled a variety of
influences from West and Central Africa, to create
a style that is uniquely his own.
Cheikh Lô was born in 1955, to Senegalese
parents in Burkina Faso. During his teens he
listened to all kinds of music, especially the
Congolese rumba which was popular throughout
Africa. Cuban music was also all the rage in West
Africa at this time, so when his older brothers
started up their 78s and danced to ‘El Pancho
Bravo’, Cheikh, without understanding a word,
would mime exactly to the Spanish lyrics.
At 21 he started singing and playing percussion
with Orchestra Volta Jazz in Bobo Dioulasso. The
band played a variety of music from Burkina Faso
as well as Cuban and other styles.
In 1981 he moved to Dakar, Senegal where he
played drums for the renowned and progressive
singer, Ouza, before joining the house band at
the Hotel Savana, drumming and singing an
international repertoire.
In 1984 he moved to Paris and worked as a
studio session drummer. He recalls: “Studio sleep - studio for two years. I love Congolese
and Cameroonian music and I absorbed a lot of
it during this period”. On his return to Senegal
he found that his (now very long) dreadlocks
made him no longer entirely welcome at the Hotel
Savana so he concentrated on his own music.
Cheikh’s first cassette ‘Doxandeme’ (‘Immigrants’),
on which he sang about the experience of being
Senegalese abroad, came out in 1990. It sold
In August 1995 Youssou N’Dour agreed to
produce the next album ‘Ne La Thiass’ at his
Xippi Studio in Dakar. On this album, Lô is joined
on vocals by Youssou N’Dour (‘Guiss Guiss’ and
‘Set’) and by musicians from N’Dour’s Super
Etoile de Dakar. ‘Ne La Thiass’ was released
internationally on World Circuit in 1996 and
followed by a higely successful European tour.
Cheikh’s second album ‘Bambay Gueej’ (World
Circuit) was released in 1999. It was co-produced
by Nick Gold and Youssou N’Dour in Dakar with
additional recording in Havana and London. His eclectic mix was furthered on ‘Lamp Fall
(World Circuit 2005) by his discovery of Brazilian
sounds and rhythms. These Brazilian recordings
were coupled on the album with sessions recorded
in Dakar and London.
For the next few years Lo withdrew from the
international stage and immersed himself in the
Dakar scene playing regularly with his own band.
This return to home is reflected in his latest album
‘Jamm’. His signature blend of semi-acoustic
flavours - West and Central African, Cuban,
flamenco - has been distilled into his most mature,
focused, yet diverse statement to date.
www.worldcircuit.co.uk/#Cheikh_Lo
Recordings:
Ne La Thiass, 1996 Bambay Gueej, 2001 Lamp
Fall, 2006 Jamm, 2011
Comrade Fatso &
Chabvondoka
Zimbabwe
band, fusion, hiphop, reggae
Sun 17, 11:10pm
Farai Monro, a white, dreadlocked underground
rebel who sings in both English and Shona, has
caused enormous controversy in Zimbabwe.
Combining hiphop beats, African rhythms
and highly-politicised lyrics criticising the rule
of Mugabe; the music has been banned by
Zimbabwe’s stateradio and television channels,
forcing Fatso and his group to promote the album
via unconventional methods. “We have it available
in shops, cafes and independent stores,” he says,
“but at the same time we have our own guerrilla
tactics of getting the word out into the townships.
We have street teams of comrades who distribute
hundreds of copies of the album into the kombis public mini-buses used by ordinary Zimbabweans.
So we create an alternative “people’s radio” as the
album gets played in hundreds of kombis.
Fatso began writing poetry when growing up in
Zimbabwe in his teens, before travelling abroad
to take a university course in the UK. “When I
returned to Zimbabwe I knew I wanted to be part
of the struggle for freedom and I wanted to create
a new radical culture of performance poetry;” he
says. The two came together in what he calls
toyi toyi poetry, named after the spontaneous
foot-stomping dance of protest that became a
famous expression of resistance in apartheid-era
South Africa. Mixing English and Shona with street
slang, political sloganising and hip-hop rhythms,
he cites dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, Fela Kuti
and Thomas Mapfumo as his main sources of
inspiration. “I always knew that I wanted to marry
words with music and to create a new urban,
African sound of struggle. Instead of music being
used to turn African youth into passive consumers
and obedient citizens, we need music that
makes us move and dance against poverty and
dictatorship. Chabvondoka means “it’s a riot” and
that’s exactly what our music is
2008 has seen Comrade Fatso and Chabvondoka
launch their much-acclaimed album, House of
Hunger, banned in Zimbabwe but labelled by
Agence France Presse as “the most revolutionary
album since Thomas Mapfumo’s music in the
1970s.” Fatso and Chabvondoka have performed
extensively at festivals in France, UK, Holland,
Kenya, Reunion, Botswana, Malawi, Swaziland
and South Africa. Fatso’s poetry and music have
appeared in print and broadcast media in over fifty
countries around the world. “Word by word, song
by song, we will build a new Zimbabwe;” Comrade
Fatso insists. www.comradefatso.com
Recordings:
House of Hunger, 2008; Korokoza (single), 2011
Culture Musical Club
inventive songs and the joy of the music-making
transport you!
Zanzibar
Besides taarab, many club members are also
active in kidumbak groups, smaller ensembles that
play a more down-home, dance-focused music.
Both types of music are now included in their
shows, contrasting the serene sound of orchestral
taarab to the festive and sexually charged dance
that is kidumbak.
traditional, taarab
Sun 17, 7:05pm
Founded in 1958, the Culture Musical Club is
Zanzibar’s most prolific and successful taarab
orchestra. The club performs widely at concerts in
Zanzibar town, but also frequently travels overland
with a fold-up stage and an electricity generator
to bring its music to the rural areas. They have
released hundreds of songs on the local market
and since 1988 have had six international CD
releases. The group has been performing in
Europe regularly since 1996, and in the past few
years they have done shows in United States,
Dominican Republic, Reunion and Japan.
Culture Musical Club are 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
The taarab orchestra includes three violins, qanun,
oud, two accordions, double bass, dumbak,
bongos and rika, plus singers and female chorus.
The kidumbak side features three violins, sanduku
(tea-chest bass), two kidumbak drums, cherewa
(maracas) and mkwasa (claves), female chorus
and dancers.
Recordings:
Taarab 4: Music of Zanzibar (1988); Spices of
Zanzibar (1996); Kidumbak Kalcha: Ng ’ambo –
Other Side of Zanzibar (1997); Bashraf – Taarab
Instrumentals from Zanzibar (2000); Waridi –
Parfums de Zanzibar (2003); Shime! (2009)
With thanks to
friend of Arby’s from a good family: “May Dja
Cheickna live a good life.” The song bursts with
funky high-hat, sizzling bass and guitar, and Arby’s
stunning yodeling, as age-old hand-clapping
rhythms entwine with crunchy distorted guitar.
Lumumba Theatre
Recently Arby has started touring internationally,
wowing and mesmerising audiences at SXSW,
WOMAD, 3 Culturas, Africa Oye and other
festivals. Her most recent album, Timbuktu Tarab
(Clermont Music) was listed Best CD of 2011 in
Busara’s Routes in Rhythm charts.
Sat 16, 6:00pm
“Her 2010 album, “Timbuktu Tarab” (Clermont
Music), was one of the decade’s best African
albums, and onstage her music was even more
electrifying.” (Jon Pareles, New York Times)
“One of the living legends of Malian music, Khaira
Arby is widely hailed as the queen of Malian desert
soul, and with good reason. Shrouded in regal
colors, she presides over a small army of brilliant
African musicians, who create a hypnotic backdrop
for her gloriously swooping vocals.” (NPR Music)
www.myspace.com/khairaarby
Recordings:
Khaira Arby
Mali
roots, traditional, spiritual
Sun 17, 9:00pm
For women, singing can be the road to personal
power. When their voice is as strong as Malian
vocalist Khaira Arby’s, that power can move
mountains, change minds, and win battles. Arby’s
rich, potent sound aims to do just that, shifting
seamlessly between the edgy and progressive and
the traditional and deeply rooted.
Inspired by her cousin Ali Farka Toure, Arby turns
to her mixed Berber and Songhai roots and draws
on a sweet mixture of desert blues and recording
sophistication, blending ripping electric guitar with
ngoni (forefather of banjo), funky drum breaks and
traditional percussions of scraper and calabash.
Though very much her own woman, Arby, born in
a village not far from the famed city of Timbutku, is
firmly planted in the desert sand.
Timbuktu Tarab, 2010
Tanzania
acoustic, band, dance, fusion
Lumumba Theatre is a group of talented singers,
dancers, actors, choreographers and musicians,
based in Dar es Salaam. The group was
established in 1997 by Director Dyuto Komba
when he brought together talented students of
Lumumba Primary School. Still based at the
school, in the Mnazi Mmoja area of the city,
Lumumba is driven by its vision of the youth in
Tanzania as a catalyst for social change. Towards
this end, they centre activities on facilitating
artistic training workshops in dance, theatre and
music, providing young people with opportunities
to learn, express their creativity and perform. To
date the group has performed all over Tanzania
and at festivals in Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique,
Germany, Denmark, India and Poland.
In their early years, the group focused on
traditional dances of Tanzania. They have now
diversified activities to also offer workshops in
Her creativity flows in part from the people of her
home region of Northern Mali, and from their past
and present struggles.
Khaira Arby invokes the mystery, history, and
heart of Timbuktu. As she says: “Tarab is our
land, our home, Timbuktu. Its history, its mystery,
everything…”
Extremely popular in Mali, Arby has updated an
important role of African women in traditional
societies: praise singing. This means bluesy
homage to the prophet Mohammed (“Salou”) or to
good friends. “Dja Cheickna” praises a beautiful
contemporary dance, theatrical productions,
storytelling, script writing and afro-fusion music.
Instruments featured in their performances
these days include saxophone, flute, marimba,
keyboards, bass and percussion. Imbued with
their discipline, commitment, experience in
contemporary and traditional dance, their live
show never disappoints; their high-energy dancing
and musical prowess set them apart.
Mani Martin
Rwanda
acoustic, band, pop, fusion
Sat 16, 5:00pm
Mani Martin was born in 1988 in the Western
Province of Rwanda. Aged only nine years old,
his musical talents were discovered by his teacher
whilst singing for his classmates in primary school.
During 2000, when he was eleven, he recorded
twelve gospel tracks that became popular in
churches across Rwanda.
Musically Mani Martin has been greatly inspired by
the likes of Cecile Kayirebwa, Jean Paul Samputu,
Ismael Lo and R Kelly. ‘’Urukumbuzi’’ was his first
major hit in Rwanda and neighboring countries.
It won the Best Song of the Year Award in 2006.
The same year, Mani was chosen as the youngest
live performer to represent Rwanda at FESPAD.
Mani sings in a variety of languages, including
Kinyarwanda, English, French and Swahili. He
performs regularly with a live band that blends
local traditional and modern musical instruments.
Mani’s first album ‘’Isaha ya Cyenda’’ was
launched in December 2007. He was nominated in
the PAM Awards as a best Rwandan male artist in
2007. In 2008 he was awarded Best Male Gospel
Artist in the Salax Awards.
Dupfa’’ was released in 2010, filled with messages
of peace, unity and reconciliation. Mani Martin
became more popular and was often called to
represent at local and international conferences
and festivals.
Mani Martin’s talents extend to cinematography.
He acted in ‘’Long Coat’’, a movie highlighting the
post-atrocities life of Rwandans. In the local music
industry, these days Mani is better known as a pop
and R&B singer, with a string of hits from “Intero
y’Amahoro” his third album, including Amateka,
Ideni and Amazi Magari.
Mani’s fourth and most recent release is “My
Destiny”’, where he mixes modern and traditional
music.
www.manimartin.com
Recordings:
Isaha ya Cyenda, 2007; Icyo Dupfana Kiruta
Icyo Dupfa, 2010; Intero y’Amahoro, 2011; My
Destiny, 2012
With thanks to MTN
Mani’s second album “Icyo Dupfana Kiruta Icyo
Mokoomba
Zimbabwe
band, fusion, traditional, pop
Sat 16, 12:40am
Sun 17, 10:05pm
Mlimani Park
Orchestra
interplay of their guitars and finely honed horn
arrangements that are their trademark, qualifying
them as one of Africa’s outstanding bands.
Tanzania
Mlimani’s performances are usually tumultuous
affairs, with dancers going wild and the audience
all over the stage slapping appreciative tuzo (tips,
banknotes) onto the musicians’ sweaty foreheads.
band, rumba
Fri 15, 12:40am
Since their formation in 1978 Mlimani Park
Orchestra have always been one of Tanzania’s
most popular bands, easily verified by audience
turnouts and radio airplay. 35 years on, Mlimani
Park Orchestra are still the leading exponents of
Tanzanian muziki wa dansi. The band set out with
a bang when some of the principal musicians of
leading bands like Nuta Jazz and Dar es Salaam
Jazz Bands got together in 1978 to form the new
house band of Mlimani Park Bar - hence the
group’s name.
Mlimani have cooed their way into the hearts of
Tanzanians with an endless string of hits sung
and composed by the likes of Hassani Bitchuka,
Muhiddin Maalim Gurumo, Cosmas Chidumule
and Shaaban Dede. In Tanzania the first and
foremost way of appreciating a song is usually
through its lyrics. Mlimani are famous for their
themes and the intricate poetry delivered by their
lead singers. Intelligent and topical lyrics are a
regular feature in Tanzanian music, however,
it is really Mlimani’s instrumental sounds – the
(text: Werner Graebner)
“It’s gone midnight on Thursday, the second
night of Zanzibar’s epic five-day Sauti Za Busara
festival, and Tanzania’s veteran Mlimani Park
Orchestra are in full flow … By then the fast East
African rumba was cooking, two telepathic guitars
intertwining and being bounced along by rubber
band bass, a sizzling drummer, a sweetly outof-tune brass section and five glorious harmony
vocalists giving it the old footwork. The audience
are jumping and I’ve just discovered my new
official best live band on the planet”
Exuberant youthful energy bursting with natural
talent and contagious rhythm, the six young men
of Mokoomba are Zimbabwe’s next generation
of hope. Their story is one of diversity and
perseverance. Their unique style largely originates
from lead vocalist Mathias Muzaza.
Mokoomba recorded and released their debut
album “Kweseka” in 2009. The album showcases
a dynamically youthful style, perfect for igniting
any dance floor, together with more serene R&B
tracks that draw out the beauty of Muzaza’s voice.
Their 2009 European shows created a big buzz in
Stockholm, Oslo, Barcelona, Bilbao, Amsterdam
and Brussels.
During 2010/2011 Mokoomba recorded their
second CD with studio production by the great
Ivorian singer and bass player Manou Gallo.
A film documentary “Mokoomba d'une rive à
l'autre” was released in Europe and showcased
at WOMEX 2011 in Denmark. It tells the story of
Mokoomba, and the relationship between culture
and economic development in the global South.
During 2012 Mokoomba’s Rising Tide CD was
released to rave reviews. Mokoomba recently
concluded another successful two and half
months European tour, with highlights including
performances at Pole Pole Festival and
Couleur Café Festival (Belgium), Music Meeting
(Netherlands) and Voice of Nomads (Russia), to
mention a few.
“Mokoomba is quite simply the most impressive
band Zimbabwe has produced in recent memory.”
(Banning Eyre, Afropop Worldwide, USA)
www.mokoomba.com
Recordings:
Kweseka - Drifting Ahead (2009) Umvundla (EP
with Gregor Salto) (2011) Rising Tide (2012)
(Ian Anderson, fRoots, April 2011)
Recordings:
Taxi Driver, 1982; Dunia Kuna Mambo, 1982;
Matatizo ya Nyumbani, 1983; MV Mapenzi, 1985;
Hiba, 1985; Maisha Ni Kuona Mbele, 1988; Dua
la Kuku, 1989; Tanzania Dance Bands Vol. 1:
Sikinde; 1990; Maisha na Mapambano, 1994;
Sungi, 1994; Mdomo Huponza Kichwa, 1996
4 Nature > African Ngoma > African Revolution Band > African Stars Band (aka Twanga Pepeta) > Afrikali Band > Afrodynamix > Ahmed el Salam > Akhenaton
Family > Al Hajj Goya > Amani Drummers > Annet Nandujja & The Planets > Arnold Chiwalala & Polepole Group > Ary Morais > Atemi & the Ma3 Band > Atongo
Zimba > Ba Cissoko > Baladna Taarab > Bamba Nazar & The Pilgrimage > Banana Zorro & the B Band > Bantu & Afrobeat Academy > Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni ba >
Beni ya Polisi > Best of WaPi > Bi Kidude > Bismillahi Gargar > Black Roots > Black Roses > Blick Bassy > BREIS > Bring the Noise > Brother Mike > Burkina Electric >
Camirata Group > Carola Kinasha & Shada > Celloman > Cheikh Lô > Chema Culture Group > Chébli Msaïdie > Chibite > Chidi Benz > Christine Salem > Comrade
Fatso and Chabvondoka > Cool T > Cross Border > Culture Musical Club > Dawda Jobarteh > DCMA meets Tibirinzi All Stars > Debo Band > Del & Diho > Dhow
Crossing > Didier Awadi & Phat 4 > DJ Eddy > DJ Eric Soul > DJ Saleh > DJ Side > DJ Yusuf > Djeli Moussa Diawara > El Tanbura Group > Elemotho > Ellika & Solo >
Eric Wainaina & the Mapinduzi Band > Ferooz & Daz Nundaz > Fid Q > FM Academia > Fredy Massamba > Fresh Jumbe & African Express > Ghorwane > Groove
Lélé > Halikuniki & Sekembuke Comedy Group > Hanitra > Hiyari ya Moyowo > Iddi Achien'g > Imani Ngoma > Imena > Islanders Band > Jagwa Music > Jahazi
Modern Taarab > Jakamoyo > Jambo Brothers Acrobats > Jang’ombe Nursery School > Jaymoe > Jembe Culture Group > Jhikoman > Joel Sebunjo & Sundiata >
Joh Makini > Jose Chameleone > Juhudi
Taarab > Juma Nature & TMK Wanaume
Halisi > Kariakoo Sanaa > Kashakali Group >
Kassim > Katapila ‘Sangula’ Ngoma > Khaira
Arby > Kidumbaki JKU > Kijiji Family The
Big Nation > KIKI Taarab > Kilimanjaro
Band > Kilua Ngoma > Kiumbizi > Klear
Kut > Kozman Ti Dalon > KVZ Tupendane >
Kwani Experience > Kyandu Music > Lady
Jaydee > Lelelele Africa > Leo Mkanyia > Les
Frères Sissoko > Lumumba Theatre Group >
Maalesh > Madee > Mafunzo Ngoma >
Maia Von Lekow > Makadem > Malick Pathé
Sow > Malouma > Mamillion > Mandojo &
Domokaya > Mani Martin > Mapacha Africa >
Mari Boine > Mashauzi Classic Modern
Taarab > Massar Egbari > Matimba Arts >
Matona & G-Clef > Matonya > Maulidi &
Mombasa Musical Party > Maulidi ya Homu ya
Mtendeni > Maureen Lupo Lilanda > Maurice
Kirya > MB Dogg > Mchinga Generation >
Mim Suleiman > Mkalimala Culture Group >
Mkota Spirit Dancers > Mlimani Park
Orchestra > Mo'Some Big Noise > Mohamed
Ilyas & Nyota Zameremeta > Mokoomba >
Moto Combat > Mrisho Mpoto > Msafiri
Zawose & Sauti Band > Msondo Ngoma
Band > Muthoni The Drummer Queen >
Mutinda > Mwana FA > Mzungu Kichaa >
N'Faly Kouyaté > Nadi Ikhwan Safaa - Malindi
Taarab > Nako2Nako Soldiers > Natacha
Atlas > Nathalie Natiembe > National Taarab
All Stars > Nawal & Les Femmes de la Lune >
Nazareth Choir > Ndere Troupe > Netsayi >
New Sound Band > NEWS Quartet > Nfithe >
Nneka > Nomakanjani Arts > Nyota Kali
Band > Nyota Ndogo > Off Side Trick > Ogoya Nengo > Olith Ratego > Omega Bugembe Okello > Orchestre Poly Rythmo de Cotonou > Otentikk Street Brothers >
Oudaden > Owiny Sigoma Band > Oya Theatre Group > Pamuzinda > Parapanda Theatre Lab > Percussion Discussion Afrika > Peter Msechu > Qasida Swiffat
Nabawiyyatul > Qwela > Rachel Magoola > Safar > Safi Theatre Group > Saida Karoli > Sakaki Mango > Saki Stars > Samba Mapangala & Orchestre Virunga >
Sanaa Taarab > Sansa Troupe > Sauda > Seckou Keita Quartet + > Segere Original > Seiyun Popular Arts Group > Seven Survivor > Shailja Patel > Shirikisho Sanaa >
Simba & Brown Band > Sinachuki Kidumbak > Sisi Tambala > Skuli ya Kiongoni > Sosolya Dance Academy > Sousou & Maher Cissoko > Sowers Group > Splendid
Theatre > Staff Band Namasabo > Stara Thomas > Sukiafrica Sukiyaki Allstars > Super Maya Baikoko > Super Mazembe > Swahili Encounters Group > Swahili
Vibes > Swifatui Abraar Group > Taffetas > Tamarind Band > Tandaa Traditional Group > Tarbia > Tausi Women's Taarab > Thandiswa > The Moreira Project >
The Shrine Synchrosystem > TMK Majita Original > Tumi & The Volume > Tunaweza Band > TY > Ukoo Flani Maumau > Utamaduni JKU > Vusa Mkhaya & Band >
Wagosi Wa Kaya > Wahapahapa Band > Wakwetu Jazz Vibes > Wanafunzi wa SOS > Wanyambukwa Artist Group > Willom Tight and the Tight Family > X Plastaz >
Yaaba Funk > Yange Yange Trio > Young Stars DCMA > Yunasi > Z. Anto > Zanzibar Unyago > Zein L’Abdin Trio > Zemkala > Zimamoto > Zinduka Ngoma >
10 Years of Celebrating African Music
Msafiri Zawose
& Sauti Band
Tanzania
roots, traditional, fusion
POSA
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12 AP13
20
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Sun 17, 6:00pm
Networking
Showcase Festival
Trade Fair
Conference
Film Screenings
Awards
virtualWOMEX
Cardiff, Wales, UK
23 –27 Oct 2013
www.womex.com
Anyone who has collected the best and most
moving recordings of traditional African music
will know the name Zawose. Hukwe Zawose
(1938-2003) was a musical giant, an influential
figure in post-independence Tanzania, head of
a large musical clan, a master musician and one
of the most mesmerizing performers ever seen. Hukwe regularly appeared on stage at WOMAD
and other major world music festivals in Europe,
Japan, North America and elsewhere, is included
in the list of Peter Gabriel’s favourite musicians,
having recorded many times at his Real World
Studios in UK. Playing the deep-pitched Gogo
thumb piano (ilimba or marimba), the overtonerich string instrument called zeze (a small,
bowed version and a larger plucked one), plus
marimba (balafons) and drums, he also sang
using harmonic techniques unique to the Wagogo
peoples of Dodoma region in central Tanzania. Msafiri Zawose continues his father’s legacy in
playing traditional Gogo music. He continues to
collaborate regularly with other musicians, crosspollinating whilst remaining firmly in touch with
the elements of the music that give it its unique
sound. Msafiri has travelled to Europe, America,
Asia, Middle East, and around East Africa playing
traditional music. He has mastered a wide variety
of instruments from marimba (balafon), zeze
(Gogo two-stringed violin), ilimba (pentatonically
tuned thumb piano) and ngoma (traditional drums).
He has a transient voice spanning a wide range of
styles and sounds, transporting his listeners to a
different world.
www.msafirizawose.wordpress.com
Recordings:
Dawale Chouya, 2006 (local release) Kinywa,
2011 (local release)
N’Faly Kouyaté
Guinea
traditional, roots, fusion
Fri 15, 9:35pm
N’Faly Kouyaté was born in Siguiri and grew
up in Conakry, the capital of Guinea. As son
of the famous “Konkoba” Kabinet Kouyaté
from Guinea, N’Faly Kouyaté was brought up
traditionally as a djeli (griot), an ambassador of
the Mandingo culture. Thus, he stands in line with
the professional musicians who have for centuries
been an indispensable part of West African
culture.
N’Faly has lived in Europe since the mid
90s, where he is one of the busiest and most
celebrated kora players. The kora is the most
famous of West Africa’s traditional instruments,
and due to his dexterity and impassioned playing
of this instrument, N’Faly Kouyaté has become
known as the “Jimi Hendrix of the kora”.
In 1996 he founded the non-profit organisation
Namunkanda (“The Defense of Culture”) which
promotes a harmonious relation between all
cultures, the preservation of ancient traditions
as well as information and knowledge of the
Mandingo culture.
www.nfalykouyate.com
Recordings:
N’na Kandje, 2001; Kora Grooves, 2004; Kora
Strings, 2011;
With thanks to Wallonie
Bruxelles International
As a griot (or “guardian of the culture”) N’Faly
Kouyaté has taken on the responsibility of
preserving the cultural heritage of artists, and in
particular the musical traditions of West Africa. His
aim is to develop a deeper understanding of these
traditions and, above all, to share his passion for
his own history and musical legacy.
After a brilliant show opening for Salif Keïta at
the Africa Centre in London, under the auspices
of WOMAD, Real World invited him for a concert
with the “Afro-Celt Sound System,” a fusion band
that blends African and Irish sounds. He was
soon invited to become a permanent member,
performing at numerous festivals worldwide,
including Glastonbury, WOMAD, Montreaux
and Montreal. Afro Celt Sound System together
with N’Faly have released several albums on
the Realworld label, of which several have been
nominated for international awards. In 2002 the
band received the Listeners’ Choice Award at the
BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards.
“As a musician, I feel a
responsibility to capture my
history and culture for the
younger generation.”
N’Faly Kouyaté
Nathalie Natiembe
Reunion
band, roots, fusion
Fri 15, 10:40pm
Nathalie Natiembé is a phenomenon. A character
whose calibre shapes the stories later told from
generation to generation. She doesn’t need any
tricks to fascinate. She just uses her voice like no
one else. Natiembé lives on multiple influences,
crossbred sounds. She is immersed in jazz,
reggae and a lot of rock too. She mingles the
latter with her maloya, a local blues, that for a long
time and until only recently was banned by the
authorities.
Natiembé says she has always sung, “dopui
dann vant’ mon monmon!” (since starting in my
mother’s womb!). Natiembé kneads and pummels
the Creole language until the strong emotions
she draws from its words take her back to its
sources. In March 2001, she came upon her
own Mozambican sources during a tour which
had marked her personal life. She met many
namesakes in the southern town of Catembe; thus
her Reunion family has connected to its African
roots.
Nathalie Natiembé’s international expansion
has been strengthening since her first public
appearance in 1997. She has gradually asserted
herself thanks to her charisma and her strong,
original songs. Natiembe sings the maloya, the
“music of the earth”, like no other. Even acappella,
accompanying herself on a small triangle, she
has electrified festivals worldwide where she has
performed.
Nathalie Natiembé cannot limit herself to only
representing maloya. “My music is diverse”, she
says. It has been drawing from other musical
sources in the Indian Ocean, in Africa, in Europe
and in the Maghreb, and mixing all these
influences.
Deeply human and full of life, naturally cheerful,
Nathalie Natiembé is atypical and unclassifiable.
Stemming from a family of musicians, she is
nevertheless fairly remote from the traditional
musical streams. She thinks that much of the
music from Reunion might just be too hybrid to be
fully authentic.
Her quest for authenticity led to a sojourn in
Mozambique in 2001. There she discovered the
deep roots of this music. Surprisingly, her research
work with three Mozambique musicians has
allowed her to be more at ease with her various
musical influences. These encompass jazz and
blues, soul, r’n’b, sounds from the Caribbean and
Cape Verde, classical music and Charles Trenet.
www.myspace.com/nathalienatiembe
Recordings:
Margoz, 2001; Sankèr, 2005; Karma, 2009
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Nawal & Les Femmes de
la Lune
Comoros / Mayotte
acoustic, fusion, roots, spiritual
Fri 15, 8:20pm
Nawal originally comes from the Comoros Islands.
Born into a family with many musicians, Nawal
bathed in both popular and spiritual music from
a young age. Now living in France, today she is
recognised as being a key figure from her native
islands: the ever rising star of Comoros.
A singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist,
Nawal plays guitar, gambusi (traditional lute,
inherited from Yemen), and diverse percussion.
Nawal states “My main instrument, before
anything, is the voice.”
Aptly called a “mystic pop diva”, Nawal
communicates something bigger than music – she
has the capacity to touch people’s hearts with her
powerful voice and message.
dialogue between Indo-Arabo-Persian cultures,
Bantu polyphonies, Sufi chanting and the
syncopated rhythms of the Indian Ocean.
Nawal creates a timeless music by drawing her
inspiration from sounds of her roots and beyond.
Nawal has been performing on the international
stage for more than 20 years, and she performs
in different formations. For Sauti za Busara 2013
festival, she presents “Nawal & Les Femmes de
La Lune” (Women from the Islands of the Moon).
This is a musical choreography mixing traditional
women’s Sufi chants and Nawal’s worldly muse,
and is also a humanitarian project assisting the
emancipation of women through art.
www.nawali.com
Recordings:
Kweli, 2001; Aman, 2007; Nawal & Les Femmes
de La Lune, 2010 (CD/DVD); Embrace the Spirit,
2011
With thanks to Conseil General
de Mayotte
Between tradition and modernity, her resolutely
acoustic and mystical music weaves a harmonious
Peter Msechu
Tanzania
band, rumba, bongo flava, pop
Sat 16, 7:10pm
Peter Msechu was born in 1988 in Kigoma region
of Tanzania, close to the border with Burundi, and
started singing, aged ten, at Kigoma Lutheran
Church Choir where his father was the choir
teacher.
Owiny Sigoma Band
Kenya / UK
acoustic, roots, fusion
Fri 15, 11:40pm
Sat 16, 10:40pm
In 2009, a handful of London-based musicians
travelled to Nairobi in Kenya to collaborate with
local musicians. It was a loose arrangement; there
being no specific agenda other than to bring the
musicians together, exchange ideas and enjoy the
results.
The traditional music of Kenya has not received
the same global exposure as that of West Africa,
South Africa or North Africa for example and
one of the objectives of this project was to try
and build on this. The band draw on a broad
spectrum of African influences, from Fela Kuti and
Tony Allen to the likes of Thomas Mapfumo and
Oumou Sangare, but bar Jesse’s participation
with Damon Albarn’s Africa Express, this was the
first opportunity for UK musicians Jesse Hackett
(keys), Louis Hackett (bass), Sam Lewis (guitar),
Chris Morphitis (bouzouki/guitar) and Tom Skinner
(drums) to visit Kenya specifically for a musical
project.
The guys’ first trip to Nairobi in January 2009 was
to meet and collaborate with two Luo musicians:
Joseph Nyamungu and Charles Owoko, who play
nyatiti (harp), orutu (fiddle), drums and percussion.
The workshop/rehearsals were a lot of fun: “They
acted as a skills exchange and a way of sharing
our music. We learned some of their songs and
they learned some of our songs too,” explains
Tom. Finding a studio that could accommodate a
7-piece live band wasn’t easy, but eventually they
holed up in an amazing disused factory space to
record.
The resulting four tracks made their way to Gilles
Peterson (BBC Worldwide), who promptly signed
the band to his Brownswood record label and
sent the guys back to Nairobi for another weeklong recording session with Joseph, Charles and
their extended musical family. In 2011 the band’s
self-titled album was released – a collection of
gloriously hypnotic Afro grooves symbolic of the
true culture clash between the Luo and London.
“Original, quirky but backed with a mercurial
musicianship, the Owiny Sigomas have all the
attributes of a band that look set to become firm
festival favourites.” (Record Collector)
Recordings:
Owiny Sigoma Band, 2011
In 2009 Peter Msechu entered Bongo Star Search
(BSS), a weekly TV talent competition popular
with young Tanzanians. Within months he had
two major hits, “Hasira Hasara” and “Relax”
(collaborating with Kenya-based Burundian
musician Kidumu).
In 2010 he entered Tusker Project Fame, another
talent competition, where he chose classics by
legendary African musicians including Oliver
Mtukudzi, the late Marijani Rajab and Mbaraka
Mwinshehe.
During the past year Msechu has performed all
over East Africa and more recently in USA. At
Sauti za Busara 2013 Peter Msechu will present a
special performance with Wakwetu Jazz Vibes…
100% live!
Safi Theatre Group
Tanzania
acoustic, traditional, acrobats
Fri 15, 5:50pm
The group was initiated as an idea by Ramadhani
Maneno (aka Pendapenda) during 1997 with the
name Splendid Theatre. Ramadhani’s career as
an artist started when he was a mere nine years
old, displaying his dancing skills at various parties
in his neighbourhood of Dar es Salaam. At the age
of thirteen, he was selected to lead his school’s
acting group.
Splendid Theatre started with 25 artists under the
supervision of Splendid Secretarial College, in
1998 Splendid Secretarial College quit ownership
of the group, so band members decided to rename
the group as Safi Theatre.
Safi Theatre continues to perform traditional
ngoma music, blending their unique and lively
shows with acrobatics for more originality.
Instruments used include three djembe drums,
solo marimba, bass marimba, flute, barrel drums
and shakers.
Safi performs regularly in different venues around
Dar es Salaam, and have performed at many
festivals including Bagamoyo Festival, Morogoro
Cultural Festival, Music Crossroads, SADC Dance
Festival (Harare) and more.
Sousou & Maher
Cissoko
and Amadou & Mariam. They have performed
several times in Swedish and Senegalese National
Television and Radio.
Senegal / Sweden
Maher Cissoko was born into a legendary griot
family in Casamance, Senegal, that has seen the
art of kora playing being passed from generation
to generation through more than 700 years. Maher
has embellished this tradition and developed his
own explosive and danceable style.
band, jazz, roots, traditional
Sat 16, 8:20pm
Expressive singing and rhythmically rocking music
define this unique and charismatic duo. Together
with their groovy Adouna Band they line up wellknown artists from Senegal and Sweden on kora,
guitar, percussion and bass, combining influences
from reggae, mbalax, pop, folk, soul and blues.
The combination of their rhythmic energy and
intimate vocals makes their music unforgettable.
Since the release of their albums Adouna (2008)
and Stockholm-Dakar (2011) they have toured
in Scandinavia, South Korea, Senegal, Mali,
Tanzania and South Africa, performing at events
such as the Peace & Love Festival, Gwanju World
Music Festival, Sauti za Busara, Festival Sur Le
Niger, and have been supporting big-name artists
including Toumani Diabate, Bassekou Kouyate
Sousou Cissoko, a singer from Sweden is one of
few female kora players in the world. She fell in
love with the kora at an early age and travelled
to The Gambia aged only 19 to study the West
African Mandinka traditions. Since then she has
travelled many times in West Africa to study kora,
singing and guitar.
The foundation in the kora musical tradition is
to constantly renew and find your own way, and
that’s literally what Sousou & Maher are doing.
In 2011 they drove all the way from Stockholm to
Dakar, a trip that became the inspiration for new
songs and the ability to see connections where
others see boundaries.
”Stockholm – Dakar; Sweden – Senegal: Two
different cities, countries, continents and homes.
In our constant travels we have come to the
understanding that we do not move in between,
but within. It is not a meeting or a union of two
worlds or cultures but a musical voyage within the
same sphere of people, rhythms and movements.
And from there we find smiles and stories and
compose songs and lyrics that we want to share.”
(Sousou & Maher Cissoko)
Sousou & Maher have been nominated for several
recognition music awards, including Newcomer of
the Year 2010, Band of the Year Nominee 2011
and Album of the Year Nominee 2012 in Sweden’s
World Music Awards.
www.sousoumaher.com
www.ajabu.com
Recordings:
Adouna (2008); Stockholm - Dakar (2011)
With thanks to Swedish Arts Council
Super Maya Baikoko
Tanzania
roots, traditional
Sat 16, 11:40pm
The Baikoko dance style has recently become one
of the most favoured night entertainments around
Dar es Salaam. Baikoko groups play in roadside
bars, at weddings or as an added attraction for
‘modern taarab’ nights. The young man who
started this recent craze is Juma Hussein, also
known as “Maya”.
The style originated in the Digo villages around
Tanga in the early 1990s. It is directly linked to
ngoma ya ndani, an exclusive women-only dance,
not intended to be seen by men, and can be
likened to msondo or unyago, part of the initiation
of girls into adulthood.
The style evolved out of a number of older Digo
traditional drumming genres like mdindiko from
which it inherited the long msondo drum, shakers
and mabuyu, kind of trumpets originally made out
of gourds. To the original drum line-up Baikoko
added an array of three bass-type drums, that
guide the dancers. The instrumentation later
became adapted to materials available in the
city. Thus the drums are now made from plastic
drainage pipes of varying sizes, the maboya from
buoys otherwise used in port to guide ships, the
rattles are made from empty tins.
Baikoko took the Magomeni area of Dar es
Salaam by storm and Maya & his group Dogo
Dogo Stars soon had more gigs than they could
cope with. Baikoko is currently played and danced
by many groups in Dar es Salaam and the
fanbase has widened to Zanzibar and Mombasa.
Maya and friends are now performing as Super
Maya Baikoko, and are still the strongest group
around.
regularly as a tight self-expressive unit, and
in collaborations with other artists. At Sauti za
Busara 2013 they present a special performance
with Tusker Project Fame and Bongo Star Search
superstar Peter Msechu … 100% live!
Wanafunzi wa SOS
Zanzibar
roots, traditional
Fri 15, 5:20pm
(text: Werner Graebner/Jahazi Media)
Wakwetu Jazz Vibes
Tanzania
Jazz
Sat 16, 7:10pm
Wakwetu Jazz Vibes is a hard working and
dedicated band that is focused on changing
musical perceptions and raising standards in
Tanzanian jazz and soul music. Since Wakwetu
Jazz Vibes’ founding in 2010, they have performed
The Students of SOS is a group of orphans based
in the Hermann Gmeiner School in Zanzibar
island, also known as the SOS Childrens Village.
The children who lost their parents are sheltered
at the school to give them an upbringing and a
good education. The SOS school is emphasizing
extracurricular activities and plans to have a
special class room for teaching different kind of
dances from around Zanzibar and Tanzania. They
foster special talents and formed a children’s
group in with 18 members from the SOS children’s
in 1991. These special young talents get nurtured
and trained to play several kinds of traditional
instruments like flutes, ngoma drums, masewe
and manyanga (rattles). They promote a message
of peace and stability in order to protect the lives of
woman and children worldwide.
SOUVENIR T-SHIRTS
Young Stars DCMA
Zanzibar
roots, traditional
Sun 17, 5:00pm
Young Stars DCMA features fifteen of the
youngest students from Zanzibar’s Dhow
Countries Music Academy (DCMA). They play a
variety of instruments and music styles including
traditional taarab, ngoma, western classical and
music fusion. Their most recent performance
was at a fundraising function for children’s
development in Tanzania, organized by UNICEF
during November. See the next generation’s music
stars today, at Sauti za Busara 2013!
www.zanzibarmusic.org
Zanzibar Unyago
Zanzibar
roots, traditional
in Japan, Poland, South Africa, Mozambique,
France, Holland and Germany. Lead msondo
drummer is now Saada Ally Shoka, more popularly
known as Binti Ally.
Meanwhile Bi Fatma Hamza and Bi Nachum
Ngwali Faki continue to play backing drums, with
Fatma Juma now as lead vocalist and dancer.
For an unforgettable performance, don’t miss
Zanzibar Unyago for their first ever international
performance in this set up at Sauti za Busara
2013.
Available at the festival shop and Memories of Zanzibar.
Fri 15, 7:05pm
Unyago is the ancient drum and dance ritual,
performed by older women exclusively for
teenage girls, which uses traditional rhythms to
teach women how to take care of and pleasure
their husbands, protect their homes, and other
preparations before marriage. Unyago is popular
in the islands and coastal regions of East Africa.
For several decades the undisputed leader
in the unyago scene has been Bi Kidude bint
Baraka. Now aged more than a century and due
to worsening health, in 2012 Bi Kidude recently
retired from performing in public.
Zanzibar Unyago group mostly includes the same
drummers and dancers that have been performing
over the years with Bi Kidude at ceremonies
around East Africa as well as on the big stage
10 Years of Celebrating African Music
18,354
Ten Years of Celebrating African Music
“What started out 10 years
ago as a simple festival of
music, celebrating local
artists, has since ballooned
into a globally renowned
festival, arguably the most
important in Africa...”
2012: Tourism numbers reach an all-time high
Wolfgang H. Thome
2010: H.E. Jakaya Kikwete endorses the festival
2004
First edition of Sauti za Busara held in
Forodhani Gardens.
2005: Bi Kidude receives WOMEX Award
2004 stage with hand painted backdrop and banners
2005
Bi Kidude presented with the World Music
Expo (WOMEX) Lifetime Achievement Award.
The same year, Busara Promotions helps
produce the multi-award winning documentary
biopic of Bi Kidude “As Old As My Tongue,”
(Dir: Andy Jones/ScreenStation).
2007
Yusuf Mahmoud, Director of Busara
Promotions presented with World Shaker
Award at the BBC Radio 3 World Music
Awards in London, recognising his “enormous
contribution to both the local scene in Zanzibar
and the world music scene globally”.
2013
Sauti za Busara is a truly international festival.
This year we have artists from all over the
continent, representing Tanzania and an
additional 13 countries. Over the past decade,
Sauti za Busara has brought 255 groups
representing 52 countries to the main stage.
“Sauti za Busara provides a
great opportunity for locals
and visitors of different walks
of life to meet and exchange
ideas and appreciate the
uniqueness, wealth and
diversity of music from our
region.”
H.E. Jakaya Kikwete, 2010
2012
total international visitors to Zanzibar in
February reaches an all-time high of 18,354,
SIX times the figure since Sauti za Busara
started.
Ten Years of bringing people together
“I doubt that there is any
other festival in the world in
which African musicians are
so warmly loved... Sauti za
Busara makes you believe in
African unity.”
Elsie Eyakuza, The East African, 2012
“the friendliest festival
on Planet Earth”
Tanzania’s Daily News, 2006
2007: Yusuf with BBC World Shaker Award
2010: festival goes ahead despite 3 month power cut
Busara Through The Year
2012 was an exciting and eventful year for
Busara Promotions, the NGO behind Sauti za
Busara. While the music festival is our main
event – and one that takes most of the year
to plan and produce – Team Busara keeps
busy behind the scenes with a host of other
activities.
Busara Garden Party
To thank friends and supporters, we hosted a
garden party at our office in Maisara, Zanzibar,
featuring live music, a screening of the “More
than a Festival” documentary, food, drinks and
vibes.
Building Appreciation for East
African Music
Busara team attending Denmark’s Roskilde Festival
Promotions organised entertainments for the
Wella Hairdressers group that was visiting
Zanzibar. We introduced the visitors to a wealth
of local music, including Safi Theatre, Jhiko
Manyika, Carola Kinasha, Tunaweza Band,
Shirikisho Sanaa, Kilua Ngoma and more.
Nneka (Nigeria)
Sauti za Busara 2012 was, by all accounts,
the best festival yet, drawing fans from all
corners of the world to see the best in African
music. Among many highlights included Fredy
Massamba (Congo), Tumi & The Volume
(South Africa), Ndere Troupe (Uganda),
Lumumba Theatre (Tanzania) and Nneka
(Nigeria)
In April 2012, Tausi Women’s Taarab featuring
Bi Kidude performed in Beirut, Cairo,
and Alexandra. The same month, Busara
“Bringing bands from different
countries of Africa together in
one place is powerful. That is
something we have to do. We
need to do more often.”
Nneka (Nigeria/Germany)
In May 2012, Jagwa Music released their
much-anticipated album “Bongo Hotheads”
on Crammed records, to rave reviews
worldwide. Busara organized Jagwa Music’s
first international showcase at WOMEX (World
Music Expo) in UK during 2005; after three
electrifying performances at Sauti za Busara
it’s great to see the group finally getting the
attention they deserve.
Building Skills
We hosted representatives from Denmark’s
Roskilde Festival at Sauti za Busara 2012 to
help us improve audience safety procedures
and to provide technical training. As a part
of this festival partnership, five Busara team
members also had the opportunity to travel to
Roskilde Festival during June-July, for further
skills-building and experience. In addition we
teamed up with Sawa Sawa Festival (Nairobi)
and Bayimba Festival (Uganda) for ongoing
exchanges and skills-training programmes for
stage, production and technical crew.
Busara Garden Party at our office in Maisara, Zanzibar
International Networking
Busara continues to strengthen collaborations
with other festivals and sister organizations
throughout Africa and beyond. In 2012, Busara
presented at the AFRIFESTNET festival
directors meeting in Accra, Ghana, the Moshito
Music Conference in Johannesburg, South
Africa, and the CERDOTOLA African music
industry conference in Yaounde, Cameroon.
Busara Promotions continues to be an
active member in the African Music Festivals
Network, Afrifestnet, East Africa Performing
Arts Circuit (EAPAC) and Indian Ocean Music
Network.
“More than a Festival”; the film documentary
produced by Busara Promotions with SYNK
Media, was screened at AWME (Australasian
Worldwide Music Expo) in Melbourne, Australia
in November.
Sad Farewells & Happy Hellos
This year, Busara bid farewell to Rosie Carter
(Assistant Director), Violet Maila (Marketing
Manager) and Waziri Ally (Chairman, Board of
Trustees). We thank Rosie, Violet, and Waziri
for their passion, efforts and contributions
over the years and wish them all the very best
for future endeavors. At the same time, we
welcome Juma K Juma, recently promoted
to Technical Manager, and Rebecca Corey,
Busara’s new Managing Director.
Senior staff on Strategic Planning retreat in Matemwe
More Fire!
Stay tuned for updates through the year by
signing up for our free e-newsletter at
www.busaramusic.org
Jagwa Music finally released album “Bongo Hotheads”
African Music Legends - Rest in Peace
Mohammed Wardi (Sudan)
1932 - 2012
In the modern history of Sudan, no musical
figure stands as tall, or cuts as deep as singer/
composer/bandleader and political activist
Mohamed Wardi, who died in Khartoum on
February 18, 2012. He famously befriended
Louis Armstrong, and helped to introduce
jazz and other contemporary influences into
Sudan’s national music. Wardi composed over
300 songs, many of them classics, and many
of them courageous for their social and political
import.
Sudanese historian Ahmad Sikainga called
Wardi “the largest giant of Sudanese music,”
noting that he was detained and jailed for his
outspokenness numerous times during the 60s
and 70s, and driven into an extended period
of exile with the rise of a repressive, Islamist
regime in the 1980s. Wardi later returned
to Sudan, and news of his death riveted
Sudanese everywhere, creating a moment of
unity in a profoundly divided nation.
Warda (Algeria)
1940 - 2012
Along with Lebanon's Fayrouz and Egypt's late
Umm Kalthoum, the Algerian singer Warda
Warda was one of the legendary singers of
the Arab world. Warda Aldjazairia, aka the
Algerian Rose, was born in France in 1939 to
an Algerian father and Lebanese mother. She
travelled to Algeria for the first time in 1962
after the country gained independence from it
French colonial rulers. She married an Algerian
and quit singing for ten years.
Joseph Castico (Tanzania)
Mr Joseph Castico collapsed and died on
21st September 2012. He was a Government
Director in Zanzibar’s Department of Culture
and had always been a stalwart supporter of
cultural festivities. Mr Castico was a founder
member of Zanzibar International Film Festival
Board of Trustees, as well as Chairman on the
Board of Trustees of Dhow Countries Music
Academy.
His humour, love and passion for the arts were
unsurpassed, and he is greatly missed.
Warda (Algeria)
After moving to Cairo, at the time the heart
of the Arab cultural and artistic scene, she
frequently worked with Egypt's best-known
composers, Baligh Hamdy, making some of the
most memorable Arab love songs, including
"Stay Here, Stay" and "Listen To Me".
Mohammed Wardi (Sudan)
Keletigui Diabate (Mali)
1931 - 2012
Keletigui Diabaté passed away in Bamako on
November 30, 2012, aged 81.
Keletigui was a legend. Born in Kita, Mali, a
balafon whiz kid from age 12, Keletigui also
played violin and guitar, and made his way
through a historic succession of acts; the
Malian national orchestra, as sideman for Ami
Koita and other top griot singers, member of
Salif Keita’s band Les Ambassadeurs, veteran
of Toumani Diabaté’s instrumental super trio,
and Habib Koite’s Bamada, to name just a few
of his many achievements.
Warda lived in Egypt on and off for more than
40 years, and it was in Egypt that she earned
both her cinematic and singing breakthroughs
that won her fame across the Middle East.
She had at least five lead roles in Egyptian
films and about 300 songs to her name. Late
Egyptian singer and composer Mohammed
Abdel-Wahab said Warda had "a broad voice
with special abilities that other singers lack. I
feel safe when she sings my tunes”.
Keletigui Diabate (Mali)
Joseph Castico (Tanzania)
Inna Lillaahi wa Inna Ilayhi Raji’un
Busara Top Ten CDs
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
SALIF KEITA
(Mali)
Tale
ROBERTO FONSECA
(Cuba)
Yo
NNEKA
(Nigeria)
Soul is Heavy
STAFF BENDA BILILI
(DRC)
Bouger Le Monde
JAGWA MUSIC
(Tanzania)
Bongo Hotheads
CRIOLO
(Brazil)
No Na Orelha
SEKOUBA BAMBINO
(Guinea)
The Griot’s Craft
ROBERT GLASPER EXPERIMENT
(USA)
Black Radio
JANKA NABAY & THE BUBU GANG
(Sierra Leone/USA)
En Yay Sah
ZANI DIABATE
(Mali)
Tientalaw
Top Ten CDs of 2012 compiled by DJ Yusuf: busaramusic@gmail.com
Cheikh Lô
Senegalese Soul of Many Colours
The gentle spirtiualist of Senegal turns 50.
Cheikh Lô, onyx-eyed, dread-locked, rainbowrobed, spliff firmly wedged between bony
expressive fingers, is telling me a story in
scattergun bursts: “So the French started
spreading fear to subdue the people. They
rounded up 78 of the leading marabouts (holy
men) in the land and they brought them to
St Louis, the capital of Senegal at that time,
and made them form a long queue in front of
the big French colonial chief. “OK, you lot!”
bellowed this grand colon. “You have a choice.
Either you declare that the Koran means
nothing and Mohammed was just another man
like you or me, in which case we’ll reward you
with 500 Francs, some tea and an ingot of
sugar. Or my soldiers will take you away to
a place from which you’ll never return.” The
first marabout signed on the dotted line. So
did the second, and the third. Then a tiny,
waif of a man ran from the back of the queue
like a lightening bolt to take the place of the
fourth marabout. He nailed the big chief with
a piercing glare and said, “You…you think you
own this city, and this place. But you do not! This city is owned by He who made you and
made me…it is owned by GOD!”
Cheikh Lô is uninterruptible now. He stops
telling and starts acting out the tale of how
his spiritual mentor, Cheikh Amadou Bamba
Mbacke, was then lead away into exile on
the tsetse fly-ridden island of Mayombé, off
the coast of Gabon, and of all the miracles
he performed along the way, which included
praying on the surface of the ocean and flying
back to the mainland like an eagle. It’s plain
that all my previous questions about Cheikh
Lo’s fine new album ‘Lamp Fall’, his youth
in Burkina Faso, his years of hard musical
apprenticeship in Dakar and Paris, and the
international career that was so auspiciously
launched back in 1996 with the help of
Senegal’s pop godfather Youssou N’Dour,
were only deemed worthy of dutiful, if polite,
answers. Ask the man about Cheikh Bamba,
however, or about his number one disciple
Cheikh Ibra Fall, who founded the Baye Fall
brotherhood of Sufis to which Lo is devoted,
and he plugs straight into the spiritual mains
and lights up.
It’s this gentle yet luminous spirituality that
makes Cheikh Lo’s music so unique, injecting
its boundary-busting mix of Cuban, Congolese,
Senegalese mbalax and international pop
flavours with a tender fire that banishes
sentimentality or the empty pop formula. Lo is
now 50 years old and philosophical about the
time it’s taken him to deliver ‘Lamp Fall’, the
‘difficult’ third album, whose title is synonymous
with the Baye Fall’s revered founder. “When
I take stock,” he says, “I’m satisfied. It’s been
ten years since I released my first album ‘Né
La Thiass’, ten years of travel, touring, and
promotion, all on an international scale. That
all sounds positive to me. It’s the past that
builds the present and the future, so if you like
where you are, you have to thank the past for
getting you there.”
Cheikh Lo has reasons to be thankful for his
past. Born in the small but vibrant town of
Bobo Dioulasso, in what is now Burkina Faso,
he soaked up the old Cuban and Congolese
rumba singles that his brothers used to play
on their gramophone, “which were so rare,” he
recalls, “ they were like jewels.” He became
the dogsbody and apprentice percussionist in
the local hi-life orchestra Volta Jazz aged 21,
before moving to the Senegalese capital Dakar
where he ended up playing French, American
and Italian pop standards for the clientele
of the Hotel Savana. His long and at times
gruelling musical education was rounded off
with two years in Marseille and Paris, hanging
out in studios, picking up session fees of a few
francs here and there, and, for while, playing
percussion with the proto-French-rap-raggahardcore radicals Dirty District.
Lo chides the younger generation of
Senegalese musicians for their blinkered
obsession with mbalax, the talking-drum
driven Senegalese dance style championed
by Youssou N’Dour or eighties post-Michael
Jackson pop and lately hip hop. “There were
so many different ethnicities back in Bobo
Dioulasso,” he remembers with enthusiasm,
“and Volta Jazz featured singers from Guinea,
the Congo, Mali and Burkina Faso. All of that
gave me a culture of openness. The newer
generation never had that. They can’t go
back to the Cuban era or the time of the great
African orchestras like Bembeya Jazz, because
all of that’s been abolished. Senegalese hiphop is like a carbon copy of the Americans, as
if they were a mirror turned towards the TV.”
Lo’s himself deals in the sure-fire core values
of pre-MIDI, pre-turntablism, pre-Pro Tools
pop: good melodies, great singing and great
instrumental skills. His own instrumental
prowess is astonishing. Most of the guitar,
drum and vocal parts on ‘Lamp Fall’ are his
own. This respect for the essentials of ‘honest’
music making is shared by Nick Gold, boss of
World Circuit and the co-producer of ‘Lamp
Fall’. It was Gold who proposed a trip to Brazil
to work with producer Alê Siqueira. “I spent
21 days in Salvador de Bahia,” recounts Lo. “It
was enough to see what incredible musicians
they have over there.” Lo worked in a buzzing
if impoverished barrio of Bahia called Candeal,
which is ruled by Brazilian megastar Carlinhos
Brown and home to the Afro Bloc Ilê Aiyê. “I
found the same African warmth out there,” says
Lo. “The chest-bare kids playing football in the
street, the screams, the noises and smells. Candeal reminded me of a shanty town in
Dakar called Niaye Tioker, so I felt at home.”
The majestic Senegalese samba workouts
on ‘Lamp Fall’ bear testimony to the success
of this transatlantic musical encounter. It’s
as if the ‘African’ belief systems of Brazilian
candomblé and Senegalese Baye Fall Sufism
were just waiting to meet, combine, and give us
a double dose of epic spiritual power. But the
quiet lamplight moments on the CD, like Lo’s
tender paean to his wife Adji on ‘Sama Kaani
Xeen’ (‘My Hot Pepper’) or his lament for the
loss of his nephew on ‘Sante Yalla’ (‘Thanks
Be To God’), exert their own magical form of
magnetism.
With requisite Baye Fall humility, Lo gives off
a quiet aura of well-earned satisfaction, after
so many years of struggle at the bottom of
the showbiz heap. Like all Africans, he had
to fight hard to earn respect amongst his own
for his decision to live the musician’s life,
which has long been considered on a par with
brothel creeping by polite African society. His
mother was especially shocked and upset in
the early days. Now that her son travels the
world and appears regularly on TV back home
in Senegal, she’s proud. “You notice that I
put her picture in the CD booklet,” Lo says
with a warm smile. “She’s understood that
music isn’t a hooligan thing, it depends on how
you approach it. I also now have a few more
means to help her and support her. I’m glad
she’s reached a point where she can be proud
of me. That’s really a gift.”
Andy Morgan, (c) June 2006
www.andymorganwrites.com
Busara Crew
Behind The Scenes
Festival Director: Yusuf Mahmoud
Tickets & Merchandise: Stellah Stephen
Artists Liaison: Journey Ramadhani
Technical Manager: Juma K Juma
Chief Sound Engineer: Kepi Kiombile
Sound Engineer (Monitors): Steve Kivutia
Stage Lighting: Harrisday Mallango
Security & Audience Safety: Malik Sultan Malik
Press Coordinator: Dave Ojay
Website: Hakim Kombo
Graphic Design: Peter Bennett
Technical Consultants: Gurjit Dhinsa
Antoine Cannella
Office: Musa Khamis Omar
Rukiya S Mohamed
Fatma Juma
Yona Senyenge
NGO Director: Rebecca Corey
Board of Trustees: Simai Mohamed Said
Hilda Kiel
Emerson D Skeens
Hatim Karimjee
Rachel Kessi
Ahmed Juma
Tickets and Information
FESTIVAL PASSES - 3 DAYS
VIP Special
(access to grandstand subject to availability)
International Visitors
East African Residents*
(TZ, KE, UG, RW, BI)
Tanzanian Citizens*
200,000/- TSh (US $125)
150,000/- TSh (US $95)
40,000/- TSh (US $26)
10,000/- TSh
Children
FREE
(up to age 12 when accompanied by adult)
Festival passes for admission to Old Fort, Stone Town during 15 to 17 Feb 2013.
Available online in advance and on the door daily from Wed 13 February.
*ID required for eligibility to EA Residents and Tanzanian citizens’ tickets.
The festival is organised by Busara
Promotions and operated on a not for
profit basis. Each year we search for
sponsors and donors to help make this
festival possible. Around 40% of our
income comes from international donors
and foreign governments, and 35%
comes from commercial sponsorship.
The remaining 25% we raise through
tickets, t-shirts, etc. We would very much
appreciate financial support from the
tourism industry and the public sector.
TELL US WHAT YOU THINK
Please complete our audience
survey at www.busaramusic.org
or in person at the Old Fort
... you could win a Busara t-shirt.
There are countries where people are not free to speak their mind. At development organisation
Hivos we aim to give a voice to those who do not yet have one. We believe that there should
be no limit to express yourself.
Find out more about Hivos. www.hivos.nl/information
Photo credits: cover (from top, clockwise): Nneka by Pernille Barendtsen, location by Jeremy Llewellyn-Jones, Nighttime
Audience by Robin Batista, Kilua Ngoma by Masoud Khamis, Kwani Experience by David Murphy, Lumumba Theatre Group by
Peter Stanley, Ba Cissoko by Masoud Khamis; other pages: Peter Bennett p2, back cover; Anoop Singh p4.
Timetable
Achieve More
Date
Sun 17
Sat 16
Fri 15
Thu 14
Daily
Time
10:00am
9:00pm
10:00am
10:00am
4:00pm
4:00pm
5:00pm
6:00pm
7:00pm
8:45pm
10:00am
11:30am
4:00pm
5:00pm
5:20pm
5:50pm
6:00pm
7:00pm
7:00pm
7:05pm
7:35pm
8:00pm
8:20pm
8:30pm
9:35pm
10:40pm
11:40pm
12:40am
10:00am
5:00pm
6:00pm
7:00pm
7:10pm
8:20pm
8:20pm
8:30pm
9:30pm
10:40pm
11:40pm
12:40am
10:00am
5:00pm
6:00pm
6:00pm
7:00pm
7:05pm
8:20pm
8:20pm
8:30pm
9:00pm
10:05pm
11:10pm
12:15am
Xtra
Xtra
Xtra
Xtra
Xtra
Xtra
film
Xtra
Xtra
Xtra
Xtra
Xtra
Xtra
SzB
SzB
SzB
Xtra
film
Xtra
SzB
SzB
film
SzB
film
SzB
SzB
SzB
SzB
Xtra
SzB
SzB
film
SzB
SzB
film
Xtra
SzB
SzB
SzB
SzB
Xtra
SzB
SzB
Xtra
film
SzB
SzB
film
Xtra
SzB
SzB
SzB
SzB
Name
Venue
Sober House Art Exhibition
Sadiq Live (Old Taarab)
Tausi Taarab rehearsal
Dance and Drumming Class
Sunset Reggae Party
Nadi Ikhwan Safaa
As Old As My Tongue: Myth + Life of Bi Kidude
Culture Musical Club
Sinachuki Kidumbak
Maulidi ya Homu ya Mtendeni
Tausi Taarab rehearsal
Dance and Drumming Class
Nadi Ikhwan Safaa
Beni ya Polisi (Zanzibar)
Wanafunzi wa SOS (Zanzibar)
Safi Theatre Group (Tanzania)
Mohammed Ilyas
Music Shorts
Bashraf
Zanzibar Unyago (Zanzibar)
Atongo Zimba (Ghana / UK)
More Than a Festival
Nawal (Comoros / Mayotte)
Omar Sosa's Souvenirs from Africa
N’Faly Kouyaté (Guinea)
Nathalie Natiembe (Reunion)
Owiny Sigoma Band (Kenya / UK)
Mlimani Park Orchestra (Tanzania)
Open Mic Stage
Mani Martin (Rwanda)
Lumumba Theatre (Tanzania)
Music Shorts
Wakwetu Jazz + Peter Msechu (Tanzania)
Sousou & Maher Cissoko (Senegal / Sweden)
Benda Bilili!
Coconut Band
Burkina Electric (Burkina Faso / Austria)
Owiny Sigoma Band (Kenya / UK)
Super Maya Baikoko (Tanzania)
Mokoomba (Zimbabwe)
Children with Parent concert
Young Stars DCMA (Zanzibar)
Msafiri Zawose & Sauti Band (Tanzania)
Culture Music Club
Music Shorts
Culture Musical Club (Zanzibar)
Atongo Zimba (Ghana / UK)
United States of Africa: Beyond Hip Hop
Black Roots
Khaira Arby (Mali)
Mokoomba (Zimbabwe)
Comrade Fatso (Zimbabwe)
Cheikh Lô (Senegal)
Livingstone’s Restaurant
Gymkhana, Zanzibar Town
Kisiwandui, Zanzibar Town
Kae Funk, Michamvi
NIS Club House, Stone Town
Hot Spot Bistro, Kenyatta Rd
Serena Inn
Mercury’s Restaurant
Haile Selassie School, Creek Rd
Kisiwandui, Zanzibar Town
NIS Club House, Stone Town
Old Fort
Old Fort
Old Fort
Serena Inn
Old Fort
Old Fort
Old Fort
Old Fort
Old Fort
Old Fort
Old Fort
Old Fort
Old Fort
Old Fort
Old Fort
Old Fort
Old Fort
Old Fort
Old Fort
Old Fort
Old Fort
Old Fort
Old Fort
Old Fort
Old Fort
Old Fort
Serena Inn
Old Fort
Old Fort
Old Fort
Old Fort
CCM Maisara
Old Fort
Old Fort
Old Fort
Old Fort

Festival Programme (PDF 6MB)

Transcription

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