Orchestra Makassy were an East Africa

East Africa

East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...

n 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...

 band of the late 1970s and early 1980s consisting of musicians from Uganda

Uganda

Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...

 and 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...

 (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...

). In 1975, under the leadership of their principal vocalist Kitenzogu "Mzee" Makassy the group moved from Kampala

Kampala

Kampala is the largest city and capital of Uganda. The city is divided into five boroughs that oversee local planning: Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division and Lubaga Division. The city is coterminous with Kampala District.-History: of Buganda, had chosen...

, Uganda to 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: ...

, Tanzania

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...

 taking up residence at the New Africa Hotel where they were joined by guitarists and singers such as Mose Se Sengo ('Fan Fan')

Mose Fan Fan

Mose Se Sengo is a guitarist, composer, band-leader from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is one of the pioneers of Congolese Soukous....

 and Remmy Ongala

Remmy Ongala

Ramadhani "Remmy" Mtoro Ongala was a Tanzanian guitarist and singer. Ongala was born in Kindu, Democratic Republic of the Congo....

. One of the band's first recordings was the song "Chama Cha Mapinduzi

Chama Cha Mapinduzi

The Chama cha Mapinduzi is the ruling political party of Tanzania.- History :The party was created February 5, 1977, under the leadership of Julius Nyerere as the merger of the Tanganyika African National Union , the then ruling party in Tanganyika, and the Afro-Shirazi Party , the then ruling...

" praising the Tanzanian independence party with lyrics based on the words of the country's first president, 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....

. In 1982, the band moved to 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...

, 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...

to record The Nairobi AGWAYA Sessions at the CBS Nairobi studio. Remmy Ongala left the band and stayed in Tanzania where he went on to join Orchestra Super Matimila. Mose Se Sengo left the band in Kenya to start his own band Somo Somo. The Nairobi Agwaya Sessions has been described as "one of the finest moments of East African rumba". The band broke up in 1984.

Partial discography

• The Radio Tanzanian Sessions (1980)
• The Nairobi Agwaya Sessions (Virgin 1982) - reissued in 2005 under the title Legends of East Africa - Orchestra Makassy
• The Greatest Hits Of Makassy