Muziki wa dansi
Encyclopedia
Muziki wa dansi or simply dansi, is a Tanzania
n music genre, derivative of Congolese soukous
. It is sometimes called Swahili jazz because most dansi lyrics are in Swahili, and "jazz" is an umbrella term used in Central
and Eastern Africa to refer to soukous, highlife
, and other dance music and big band
genres. Muziki wa dansi can also be also referred to as Tanzanian rumba, as "african rumba" is another name for soukous.
Muziki wa dansi began in the 1930s in the Dar es Salaam
area (where most dansi bands come from), and it is still popular in Tanzania, although new generations are more likely to listen to bongo flava
or other forms of pop music
. Notable dansi bands include DDC Mlimani Park, International Orchestra Safari Sound
, Juwata Jazz, Maquis Original, Super Matimila, and Vijana Jazz
.
and French Congo
were getting very popular across Eastern Africa. This craze brought along dance clubs, especially in major cities like Nairobi
and Dar es Salaam
, where bands would play live 7 days a week. While some of these bands were actually from Zaire
, local bands emerged in Kenya
, Tanzania and elsewhere and began to develop their own blend of soukous. In Dar, some of the bands that pioneered the "tanzanian rumba" were Dar es Salaam Jazz Band
(founded in 1932), Morogoro Jazz and Tabora Jazz. These early bands were typically big bands based on brass
and drum
s.
After Tanzania became independent (in 1961), a sponsorship system was introduced by Julius Nyerere
's government, whereby bands would be financially supported by government departments or other national institutions. One of the major dansi bands of this era was the NUTA Jazz Band, which was named after its sponsor, the National Union of Tanzania. At the same time, bands gradually came to be managed like profit companies; the band owned the instruments, and musicians were employees, either on wage or salary. NUTA Jazz Band was one of the first bands to adopt this model; soon many others followed, including notable bands such as Orchestra Maquis Original
, DCC Mlimani Park Orchestra
, Tancut Alimasi and Vijana Jazz
. As a consequence of this, the most talented musicians would typically switch back and forth between bands to the best offerer, until they had gathered enough money to start their own band. Composers like Muhiddin Maalin and Hassani Bitchuka wrote hit songs for virtually all the major bands of their times. Conversely, a band was more of a "brand" than any specific ensemble of musicians; some bands kept playing for up to 50 years, while their members came and went.
Dansi music flourished through the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, with bands such as Orchestra Safari Sound
, Orchestra Maquis Original, International Orchestra Safari Sound
and DDC Mlimani Park Orchestra battling to get the audience's favours. Competition was in fact a relevant concept in the development of dansi. Music festivals were usually in the form of contests, and each band typically had its own fan base, much in the venue of sporting teams. Also, a band often had its "nemesis", i.e., their foremost competitor; for example, the dansi scene in the 1970s was characterized by the rivalry between Orchestra Maquis Original and Orchestra Safari Sound, which was later replaced by that between International Orchestra Safari Sound and Mlimani Park.
Mitindo (in swahili, "styles") were a key element in the rivalry between dansi bands. Each band would typically create its own style (mtindo), which was designed to be catchy for the audience and be clearly distinctive of the band. Mitindo were usually associated with, and often named after, some specific dancing style; for example, the name of Orchestra Maquis' mtindo ogelea piga mbizi means "dive and swim", as dancers were supposed to move their arms like they were diving. Bands often changed their mtindo when it began to go out of style. Some musicians and composers were specifically renowned as "mtindo makers".
Mitindo were also important to identify a band irrespective of who was actually playing in that band. When a musician switched from one band to another, he would change his style to reflect the new band's mtindo. Again, the most appreciated dansi musicians could easily change their style as needed.
Over time, dansi music changed, partly influenced by the evolution of Europe
an and American music. Bands in the 1960s and 1970s typically had electric guitars and electric bass guitars; in the 1980s keyboards became commonplace, and later bands even used synthesizer
s and drum machine
s (as was the case with Vijana Jazz
). The sound of most recent dansi bands like Gari Kubwa, Tokyo Ngma and Atomic Advantage is actually keyboard-based.
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
n music genre, derivative of Congolese soukous
Soukous
Soukous is a dance music genre that originated in the two neighbouring countries of Belgian Congo and French Congo during the 1930s and early 1940s, and which has gained popularity throughout Africa...
. It is sometimes called Swahili jazz because most dansi lyrics are in Swahili, and "jazz" is an umbrella term used in Central
Central Africa
Central Africa is a core region of the African continent which includes Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda....
and Eastern Africa to refer to soukous, highlife
Highlife
Highlife is a musical genre that originated in Ghana in the 1900s and spread to Sierra Leone, Nigeria and other West African countries by 1920...
, and other dance music and big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
genres. Muziki wa dansi can also be also referred to as Tanzanian rumba, as "african rumba" is another name for soukous.
Muziki wa dansi began in the 1930s in the Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam , formerly Mzizima, is the largest city in Tanzania. It is also the country's richest city and a regionally important economic centre. Dar es Salaam is actually an administrative province within Tanzania, and consists of three local government areas or administrative districts: ...
area (where most dansi bands come from), and it is still popular in Tanzania, although new generations are more likely to listen to bongo flava
Bongo Flava
Bongo flava is a nickname for Tanzanian hip hop music. The genre developed in the 1990s, mainly as a derivative of American hip hop, with additional influences from reggae, R&B, afrobeat, dancehall, and traditional Tanzanian styles such as taarab and dansi, a combination that forms a unique style...
or other forms of pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
. Notable dansi bands include DDC Mlimani Park, International Orchestra Safari Sound
International Orchestra Safari Sound
International Orchestra Safari Sound was a popular muziki wa dansi Tanzanian band from 1985 to 1992.-History:...
, Juwata Jazz, Maquis Original, Super Matimila, and Vijana Jazz
Vijana Jazz
Vijana Jazz Orchestra is a Tanzanian muziki wa dansi band that reached its peak of popularity in the 1980s...
.
History
In the first decades of the 20th century, soukous bands from Belgian CongoBelgian Congo
The Belgian Congo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo between King Leopold II's formal relinquishment of his personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.-Congo Free State, 1884–1908:Until the latter...
and French Congo
French Congo
The French Congo was a French colony which at one time comprised the present-day area of the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and the Central African Republic...
were getting very popular across Eastern Africa. This craze brought along dance clubs, especially in major cities like Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
and Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam , formerly Mzizima, is the largest city in Tanzania. It is also the country's richest city and a regionally important economic centre. Dar es Salaam is actually an administrative province within Tanzania, and consists of three local government areas or administrative districts: ...
, where bands would play live 7 days a week. While some of these bands were actually from Zaire
Zaire
The Republic of Zaire was the name of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo between 27 October 1971 and 17 May 1997. The name of Zaire derives from the , itself an adaptation of the Kongo word nzere or nzadi, or "the river that swallows all rivers".-Self-proclaimed Father of the Nation:In...
, local bands emerged in Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, Tanzania and elsewhere and began to develop their own blend of soukous. In Dar, some of the bands that pioneered the "tanzanian rumba" were Dar es Salaam Jazz Band
Dar es Salaam Jazz Band
The Dar es Salaam Jazz Band was a Tanzanian big band from Dar es Salaam that was one of the prominent muziki wa dansi bands between the 1960s and 1970s. It was led by Michael Enoch, who would later play in many other major dansi bands...
(founded in 1932), Morogoro Jazz and Tabora Jazz. These early bands were typically big bands based on brass
Brass instrument
A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
and drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s.
After Tanzania became independent (in 1961), a sponsorship system was introduced by Julius Nyerere
Julius Nyerere
Julius Kambarage Nyerere was a Tanzanian politician who served as the first President of Tanzania and previously Tanganyika, from the country's founding in 1961 until his retirement in 1985....
's government, whereby bands would be financially supported by government departments or other national institutions. One of the major dansi bands of this era was the NUTA Jazz Band, which was named after its sponsor, the National Union of Tanzania. At the same time, bands gradually came to be managed like profit companies; the band owned the instruments, and musicians were employees, either on wage or salary. NUTA Jazz Band was one of the first bands to adopt this model; soon many others followed, including notable bands such as Orchestra Maquis Original
Orchestra Maquis Original
Orchestra Maquis Original is a Tanzanian muziki wa dansi band, originally from DR Congo. Founded in 1970 and still in activity, it is one of the most long-lived dansi bands.-History:...
, DCC Mlimani Park Orchestra
DCC Mlimani Park Orchestra
DDC Mlimani Park Orchestra has been one of the most influent Tanzanian muziki wa dansi bands. It was founded in 1978 by former NUTA Jazz Band members Muhiddin Maalim, Hassani Bitchuka and Abel Balthazar; they were later joined by Michael Enoch from Dar es Salaam Jazz Band...
, Tancut Alimasi and Vijana Jazz
Vijana Jazz
Vijana Jazz Orchestra is a Tanzanian muziki wa dansi band that reached its peak of popularity in the 1980s...
. As a consequence of this, the most talented musicians would typically switch back and forth between bands to the best offerer, until they had gathered enough money to start their own band. Composers like Muhiddin Maalin and Hassani Bitchuka wrote hit songs for virtually all the major bands of their times. Conversely, a band was more of a "brand" than any specific ensemble of musicians; some bands kept playing for up to 50 years, while their members came and went.
Dansi music flourished through the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, with bands such as Orchestra Safari Sound
Orchestra Safari Sound
Orchestra Safari Sound was a major Tanzanian muziki wa dansi band in the 1970s. Along with Orchestra Maquis Original, OSS contributed to the evolution of dansi, introducing a slower paced and more melodic style that further differentiated dansi from its ancestor genre, the Congolese soukous...
, Orchestra Maquis Original, International Orchestra Safari Sound
International Orchestra Safari Sound
International Orchestra Safari Sound was a popular muziki wa dansi Tanzanian band from 1985 to 1992.-History:...
and DDC Mlimani Park Orchestra battling to get the audience's favours. Competition was in fact a relevant concept in the development of dansi. Music festivals were usually in the form of contests, and each band typically had its own fan base, much in the venue of sporting teams. Also, a band often had its "nemesis", i.e., their foremost competitor; for example, the dansi scene in the 1970s was characterized by the rivalry between Orchestra Maquis Original and Orchestra Safari Sound, which was later replaced by that between International Orchestra Safari Sound and Mlimani Park.
Mitindo (in swahili, "styles") were a key element in the rivalry between dansi bands. Each band would typically create its own style (mtindo), which was designed to be catchy for the audience and be clearly distinctive of the band. Mitindo were usually associated with, and often named after, some specific dancing style; for example, the name of Orchestra Maquis' mtindo ogelea piga mbizi means "dive and swim", as dancers were supposed to move their arms like they were diving. Bands often changed their mtindo when it began to go out of style. Some musicians and composers were specifically renowned as "mtindo makers".
Mitindo were also important to identify a band irrespective of who was actually playing in that band. When a musician switched from one band to another, he would change his style to reflect the new band's mtindo. Again, the most appreciated dansi musicians could easily change their style as needed.
Over time, dansi music changed, partly influenced by the evolution of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an and American music. Bands in the 1960s and 1970s typically had electric guitars and electric bass guitars; in the 1980s keyboards became commonplace, and later bands even used synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s and drum machine
Drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
s (as was the case with Vijana Jazz
Vijana Jazz
Vijana Jazz Orchestra is a Tanzanian muziki wa dansi band that reached its peak of popularity in the 1980s...
). The sound of most recent dansi bands like Gari Kubwa, Tokyo Ngma and Atomic Advantage is actually keyboard-based.
Notable bands
| Name | Also known as | Timeline | Location | Mitindo | Notable musicians |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dar es Salaam Jazz Band Dar es Salaam Jazz Band The Dar es Salaam Jazz Band was a Tanzanian big band from Dar es Salaam that was one of the prominent muziki wa dansi bands between the 1960s and 1970s. It was led by Michael Enoch, who would later play in many other major dansi bands... |
Dar Jazz | 1930s-1970s | Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam , formerly Mzizima, is the largest city in Tanzania. It is also the country's richest city and a regionally important economic centre. Dar es Salaam is actually an administrative province within Tanzania, and consists of three local government areas or administrative districts: ... |
Michael Enoch | |
| Morogoro Jazz Band Morogoro Jazz Band Morogoro Jazz Band was a seminal Tanzanian muziki wa dansi band, one of the few that were not based in Dar es Salaam. The band originally played live at the Morogoro Hotel in Morogoro and became very popular in the 1960s and 1970s, receiving much airplay from Tanzanian radio stations... |
Morogoro Morogoro Morogoro is a city with an urban population of 206,868 in the southern highlands of Tanzania, 190 km west of Dar es Salaam. It is the capital of the Morogoro Region... |
Mbaraka Mwinshehe, Salim Adballah | |||
| NUTA Jazz Band | Juwata Jazz Band, OTTU Jazz Band | 1960s-present | Joseph Lusungu, Mnenge Ramadhani, Muhiddin Maalim, Hassani Bitchuka, Saidi Mabera, Abel Balthazar | ||
| Orchestra Maquis Original Orchestra Maquis Original Orchestra Maquis Original is a Tanzanian muziki wa dansi band, originally from DR Congo. Founded in 1970 and still in activity, it is one of the most long-lived dansi bands.-History:... |
1970s-present | Dar es Salaam | kamanyola, zembwela | Chinyama Chianza, Nguza Mbangu, Dekula Kahanga | |
| Orchestra Safari Sound Orchestra Safari Sound Orchestra Safari Sound was a major Tanzanian muziki wa dansi band in the 1970s. Along with Orchestra Maquis Original, OSS contributed to the evolution of dansi, introducing a slower paced and more melodic style that further differentiated dansi from its ancestor genre, the Congolese soukous... |
1970s-1985 | Ndala Kasheba | |||
| Mlimani Park Orchestra | 1978-? | sikinde | Muhiddin Maalim, Hassani Bitchuka, Abel Balthazar, Michael Enoch, Cosmas Chidumule, Shaaban Dede | ||
| Vijana Jazz Vijana Jazz Vijana Jazz Orchestra is a Tanzanian muziki wa dansi band that reached its peak of popularity in the 1980s... |
1980s-1990s | ||||
| International Orchestra Safari Sound International Orchestra Safari Sound International Orchestra Safari Sound was a popular muziki wa dansi Tanzanian band from 1985 to 1992.-History:... |
IOSS | 1985-? | ndekule | Muhiddin Maalim, Hassani Bitchuka, Abel Balthazar, Nguza Mbangu |