Music expresses the soul of the dhow people. For centuries, music has been the means of communicating our identity, our visions, anxieties, health and environmental issues, aspirations and dreams.

The Festival of the Dhow Countries creates a platform whereby artists are able to deliver their message to the people. Artists through their work display a part of themselves their influences and increasingly global experiences, where traditional rhythms and hand-made instruments can meet the best of modern technology. Zanzibar is ideally located and has always been a site of cultural exchange and interaction. Listen to local music and you will hear echoes from Egypt to Indonesia, the African Continent, India, Europe, Iran and countries of the Arab-speaking world. The Festival celebrates these rich and diverse influences and furthermore aims to enhance the lives of artists in the region. The music programme implements the organisations objectives throughout the whole year, organising performances and workshops, radio and press features, widening peoples artistic horizons, assisting in fundraising for much needed equipment, training and capacity-building for artists and technicians, facilitating recordings and more.

In Zanzibar there is a tradition of kutunza, which means that if you are moved by the performance, you can show your appreciation by contributing to the musicians, the Festival deliberately keeps ticket prices low to encourage the public to support directly the artists. Don t be shy be generous and you will be playing your part in guaranteing the creative future of the spiritual and vibrant cultures of the Dhow Countries.

All Bustar ZNZ
New hiphop group from suburb area of Jang ombe. Like the best rap artists, their lyrics address social problems and are about youth upliftment. Have recorded one single Amani and are preparing to release their first album.

Beni ya Kingi ZNZ
(Brass Band Mbwa Kachoka)
Let freedom ring! Zanzibars hottest brass band plays popular wedding music with a strong focus on rhythm and dance, and audience participation. Beni ya Kingi borrows choruses from the latest taarab hits and arranges them in extended medleys in carnival spirit with more than a hint of jazz. Recordings: Beni ya Kingi (Dizim Records, 2000).

Bi Kidude + Msondo ZNZ
Bi Kidude is an institution on Zanzibar. The doyenne of Zanzibar taarab, she also plays other musical styles including more ngoma-based unyago and msondo. Kidude started out her musical career in the 1920s, and learnt many of her songs with Siti bint Saad. Bi Kidude is a repository and leading exponent of Swahili culture, we are honoured to host her once again.

Recordings: Zanzibar (Retro Africa)
Black Roots Culture Group ZNZ
Makombora, leader of Black Roots, is one of this island s most famous actors and is known and loved throughout Zanzibar. His theatre group appears regularly on TVZ and portray the universal daily struggles of life.

Borafya Kiluwa Group TZ
A rare opportunity to experience a spectacular show of X rated traditional ngoma music and dance that is associated with healing ceremonies and originates from Central Africa. Not for the faint-hearted!

Peter Masima TZ
Leader of the Chimwaga Cultural Troupe, traditional Gogo music stars from Dodoma, plays marimba and zeze, and will be singing and performing songs specially composed for the Festival.

Chu-Chu Sound CG/ZNZ/TZ
Tanzanian supergroup launched on 16 June, featuring musicians from Congo, Zanzibar and Tanzania mainland. They sing in a variety of languages including lingala, french and kiswahili and perform a variety of modern music and dance styles including rumba, reggae, ndombolo and rnb.
Recordings: Zima Moto Ndani ya Jiji.

Clouds FM Djs TZ playing the hippest and the hottest tunes fresh from the clubs of Dar es Salaam.
Companhia Nacional de Canto e Dan?a MCQ
The award-winning National Dance Companys repertoire displays a taste of the rich and diverse range of music, dance and theatre of our neighbouring state.

Cool Para ZNZ
Local DJ selector and pioneer of the new wave taa-rap style (taarab+rap). Started in rap music in 1995, with various groups but went solo, deciding to forge new territories rather than follow other local hiphop artists who imitate American rap music. Cool Para is resident DJ at Bwawani Hotels Komba Disco.

Culture Music Club ZNZ
Zanzibar s largest taarab orchestra, and most famous internationally, will be playing favourites from the highly acclaimed Spices of Zanzibar (World Network, 1996) CD as well as the new album Bashraf (dizim records, 2000)

DDC Mlimani Park TZ
Winners of the Tanzania Best Band Award in 1982, Mlimani Park Orchestra have remained firmly at the top of the Muziki wa Dansi charts ever since. Big sound, rippling guitars, finely honed horns and blissful harmonies. Mlimani Park is one of Tanzania s most loved bands, revered for their lyrical poetry and cohesive instrumental arrangements. (Africa Online).
Recordings: Sikinde (Africassette) and many local cassette releases

DJ Juma-4 NL/ZNZ
Juma-Nne of the Madunia Foundation is a producer of films, radio shows and recordings of African rap music and has done much to promote hip hop artists from the continent through the website www.africaserver.nl

DJ Yusuf UK/ZNZ
Founder of Beat the Border and VSO s Routes in Rhythm, Yusufue has been DJing and promoting international music festivals, concerts in UK since the mid 80s. Transcending all the boundaries musicwise, expect the unexpected!

Dola Soul TZ
Leader of The Deplowmatz, a swahili rap artist with beats and attitude. His latest album, Balozi Wenu, features the hit Nani na Nani, which is played on Tanzanzia radio stations daily. Conscious and lyrical, this guys rhymes really flow.

East African Melody ZNZ
Leading exponents of the so-called modern taarab phenomenon, Melody never fail to upset the purists with their ?rusha roho lyrics. Local cassette sales of this group far outstrip the market for any other artists.

Gangstaz with Matatizo (GWM) TZ
Rap artists from Dar es Salaam with attitude, these boys rocked the house when they were brought to the Old Fort to perform for ZIFF supporting Mr II in 1999. We are pleased and proud to welcome them back.

Islanders Band ZNZ

One of Zanzibars most popular bands, they play self-penned compositions, including this year s festival theme song, as well as covers of dance hits from Africa and the Dhow region.

Jhiko Manyika TZ
Ras Jhiko, from Tanzania mainland, plays roots conscious reggae music, singing in Kiswahili and English. Featuring selections from the new album Afrikaribian Beat.

JKU Steel Band ZNZ
From an African island tradition far away in the Caribbean, the steel band tradition has come to East Africa where it is laying down new musical roots. The 15 pan players will be delivering fresh renditions of classical styles as well as playing Caribbean & African rumba, reggae and taarab.

Lutheran Church Choir ZNZ
Let go of your problems and be uplifted by the islands greatest Swahili choir.

Maalesh CM
Fusing Comorian and international musical styles, Maalesh are hotly tipped for the festival with their semi-acoustic guitars, ngoma and vocal harmonies. For Maalesh, music is life, it comes from everywhere and expresses itself in all possible ways. It should be left to take its own course in everybody s mind without any limits.

This open conception explains the universal character of his melodies. In 1995, he was selected to take part in the 2nd African Arts and Entertainment Market (MASA) in Abidjan. The same year, he took part in the RFI African decouverte competition and won, giving him the opportunity to perform in Dakar where he met Lokua Kanza and Youssou Ndour. Since then he has performed at major festivals in Europe, as well as shows in Madagascar, Namibia, Ethiopia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Reunion, Sudan, Botswana... and finally to Zanzibar, where we are honoured to present Maalesh for the estival of the Dhow Countries 2000.
Recordings: Wassi Wassi (Melodie).

Mafunzo Kikundi cha Utamaduni ZNZ
Prison officers by daytime job, this afternoon you will witness a different side to these characters as they present for the Festival a varied selection of local ngoma and dance styles from Tanzania and the islands.

Mahfudh Ali Mahfudh ZNZ
Mahfudh from Zanzibar is perhaps better known as Kamilo of group Kipepeo (swahili-Butterfly) which is making inroads in the UK rock and indie charts. Nothing matters but the call of love, tropical is the mood of life. We become Kipepeo for wisdom to care to share to see beyond the silver clouds. The coast of heaven where our wings will fly again. Recordings: Sweet Talker (Cordell Records, 1999)

Manyani Nani Band TZ
Students from the world famous Bagamoyo College of Arts present a showcase of different styles of tradtitional and contemporary music and dance from Tanzania and beyond.

Mkota Ngoma Group ZNZ
From the sister island of Zanzibar, we are proud to present for the first time, artists representing styles of ngoma music and dance known locally as kibati and unjuguu from the village of Mkoani.

Mr II TZ
One of the most popular albums with the youth in Tanzania this year so far is Mr IIs latest release, Millennium. Like the ?Doctor Remmy Ongala, Mr II is not afraid to tell it like it is. A voice for the voiceless, his brand of rap is lyrical and from the heart.
Recordings: Ndani ya Bongo; Nje ya Bongo; Millennium.

Mr Paul TZ
Tanzanian r n b musician Mr Paul is making waves in the clubs and dancehalls of Dar es Salaam and other urban areas another first for Zanzibar.

Nadi Ikhwaan Safaa ZNZ
Tracing the Arabic roots of taarab music, this is probably the African Continent s oldest orchestra. Affectionately known by local people as Malindi Taarab, the group will be celebrating their 95th birthday at the Festival. Recordings: Music of Zanzibar, Vol 2: Ikhwani Safaa Musical Club (Globestyle) and many local cassette releases.

Ngoma Maendeleo ZNZ
A group of traditional dances and ngomas from Mtende village in Unguja South established in 1975; its aim is to entertain and educate villagers and society as a whole about crucial issues facing the nation like diseases and poverty allienation.

Pafmeka Group (Boha) ZNZ
One of the big hits of last years Festival, Pafmeka give a storming repertoire, showcasing a variety of ngoma and dance styles from mainland Tanzania as well as the islands of Unguja and Pemba (Zanzibar).

Parapanda Arts TZ
Led by Mgunga Mwa-Mnyenyelwa s brilliant poetry, this group has stunned everyone from casual music lovers to University professors.

Rita Ray GH/UK
Co-founder of the original Mambo Inn in Brixton, UK, Rita Ray hosts clubnights promoting African, Caribbean and Arabic musicians, as well as musicians at the cutting edge on the London circuit. She knows the secrets to keep the crowds jumping and co-founded many popular international music sessions in South London, including Bar Nubia, The Shrine and Mwalimu Express. World musics best loved DJ Rita has already found time this year in between her own gigs to organise the music at the Millennium celebrations in London, as well as guest at shows in Dublin, Paris, Lithuania, Estonia, Rome and Kampala...

Rukiza Okera GY/UK
Hailing originally from the S American country of Guyana, Rukiza Okera is a singer-songwriter now living in London, where he has been studying Swahili. This language combines with English on most of his last two albums, which are played continually on Tanzania radio and popular with people of all ages and backgrounds. Recordings: Shamba (Afrikanmusic)

Salamat EGP
ZIFF is proud to present Salamat, who take a break from their hectic European tour to come to Zanzibar especially for the festival. With their roots-bound pentatonic sound, African polyrhythms, Mediterranean melodies and Cairo style, Mahmoud Fadl's Salamat are without a doubt the future of Nubian music. Out of their generation's displacement, the band has conceived a phantasmagorical modern Nubia that ties cultural identity to street-smart urban styles. The show will feature Cairo diva and Nubian wedding star SALMA on lead vocals and 7 musicians on oud, keyboard, brass, e-bass and percussion. They will perform a brand new Nubian repertoire to listen and dance to, well known from the different Salamat albums as listed.
Recordings: Mambo El Soudani (1994, pir31), Salam Delta (1995, with Musicians of the Nile, pir0936), Nubiana (1996, pir1044), Ezzayakoum (1998, pir1256)

Salim Ali Amir + Ngaya CM
Most of my inspiration comes from the values and ancestral traditions of my motherland . I sing about peace, I denounce social injustice, and I promote the rights of the children and women. Salim Ali Amir is these days one of the biggest stars of the Comoros. Journalists say that his song lyrics are more known by the youth in the country than the national anthem. Salim takes the traditional rhythms of Comores and carries the music forward with the use of electric instruments, also bringing influences picked up during the bands extensive travels.
Recordings: Best of Comores: Ripvirwa (Studio 1)

Sina Chuki Kidumbak  ZNZ
Makame Fakis Sina Chuki Group are currently at the forefront in creativity with Zanzibar s most popular roots based music. The kidumbak style is like a stripped down version of taarab, more percussive and dance-based, and set ready to explode on the international market.

Sosoliso Kidumbak ZNZ
Another of the many talented kidumbak groups on the island performing at the Festival for the second year is this fine combo, led by Mohamed Othman.

Stone Town Reggae Sound System ZNZ
We stand together for the Creation. All people brought together with one love, one heart, one aim and one destiny.
Representing strictly roots music, Zanzibar s Number 1 reggae sound system guarantees full feeling and spiritual vibration.

Super Star Ngoma Group ZNZ
Super Star give you an opportunity to check out a variety of ngoma and dance styles from Zanzibar, mainland Tanzania and Mozambique, including kibati, msewe, kirumbizi, oringe, sindimba.

Tyoussi Mad MC
One of the unmissable events of this year s Festival is this musician, who will be performing with full band, playing their unique version of rai music, more commonly associated with the Oran district of Algeria. With its feet solidly planted in the 21st century, this music has ancestral (Arabic & Berber) roots but is forward looking with a crossover dancefloor appeal that has been keeping the Routes in Rhythm weekly sessions in Zanzibar jumping ever since the recordings arrived last summer. Tyoussis fame is legendary amongst the Arabic-speaking immigrant populations of Europe as well as North Africa, and set now to spread through the countries of the dhow. if you only wish the Khaleds and Cheb Mamis of the world had kept a bit more to their roots, musically this is the one for you.
Recordings: Ya Rassoul Allah (Disques Esperance), Best Off (Ya Samra)(Nakhil/Aladin), Wah Wah (Aladin).

Underground Souls TZ
Hardcore hiphop group from Dar es Salaam comprised of three young emcees who aim to reveal the inner truth about life. Their lyrics are in Swahili and English to get attention from international audiences, as well as local. Their first single, Battlefield, released 1998, went massive and they have not looked back since.

Yangeyange Arts TZ
This group features 8 musicians, many of whom are blind or disabled. They aim to break the boundaries that divide able-bodied from disabled artists, and bring people together through their arts, which are inspired by the Wagogo traditions of their Dodoma region. One of the highlights of Bagamoyo Arts Festival (Sunday News, 1999).

YCIC TZ
YCIC is a Tanzanian NGO working with disadvantaged children and youth in Dar es Salaam. They have helped put together a group of talented young people who are ?streetkids, ie. young people living or working on the street. This group appeared at the first Festival in 1998, and gained much confidence and performance skills, and have gone on to make the highly acclaimed new film production, Neema, which will also be showcased during the Festival. We are happy to welcome the YCIC group back to perform music, drama and acrobatics in special shows for young people throughout the week, as well as performances in the main festival programme.

Zein lAbdin Trio KNY
Born on the island of Lamu, Kenya, the young Zein was surrounded by music as his father played host to the Arab traders. He started to play the oud in the 60s in Mombasa, and subsequently became akin to a musical father for the Kenyan taarab scene, with all the famous singers at some point or another passing through his group. More recently he has gone back to basics, playing oud with two ngoma percussionists, performing contemporary compositions as well as old songs that Zein has unearthed and revived from Lamu and the Northern Swahili Coast.
Recordings: The Swahili Song Book (Dizim Records)

Zingatia Sihi Moyo ZNZ
Zingatia is another talented and versatile group from Zanzibar, that mostly performs theatre arts. Established in 1992, they have been composing and performing stage plays and dramas which are often featured on TV Zanzibar.

Zuhura Swaleh KNY
Zuhura Swaleh from Mombasa on the Kenyan coast is one of the outstanding female voices in taarab, as well as one of the musics main innovators. It was Zuhura who in the early 1970s started to introduce elements of female wedding ngoma-dances and their sharp tongued songs into the Mombasa taarab repertoire, creating the basis for the chakacha-taarab which developed into the most popular type of taarab for female wedding celebrations on the Kenya coast.

The Music Programme

Short Term Aims
The main aim of the Music Programme of the Festival is to showcase a variety of popular and traditional musics from the dhow region. It is hoped that young people from the region thereby develop appreciation and respect for the validity of local arts as a positive alternative to Western pop culture, which has rapidly been taking over much of the airtime in local TV, radio, clubs and bars.

Longer Term Aims
Recognising that the potential exists for a thriving music industry in East Africa given proper investment, ZIFF s Music Programme could play a key role in :

• Developing skills, equipment and resources for recording, sound and archiving facilities. This will in turn complement and support wider aims of ZIFF in nurturing a sustainable film industry for the region.
• Building distribution networks for music (and film).
• Increase airtime on TV/radio as well as local venues for music from around the dhow region.
• Providing legal advice and support for musicians and artists in the region, for example lobbying for enforcement of international copyright laws.
• Training for local artists, eg to improve technical or business and marketing skills.
• Working with artists to run music workshops for local schools and community venues.
• The development of a regional network of agents, venues and promoters who will help to make it more viable for musicians from around the world to tour E Africa.
• Linking with promoters in Europe, America, the Middle East and Asia in order to assist artists from E. Africa to tour and perform at festivals in other countries.
• Providing spaces for musicians from the region to rehearse, perform and exchange experiences with artists from differing cultures and backgrounds in order to cross-fertilise and forge new musical styles.
• Providing fora for workshops and seminars for people from the region to discuss pertinent issues as identified by artists and others involved

Observations of Music Programme, Festival 1999
Feedback from many quarters for the music programme for this years festival has been very positive. Most music shows were well attended, with audiences ranging from about 400 during afternoons at Forodhani Park, to the evening shows at the Mambo Club which attracted audiences of around 2,000 people per night. Around three-quarters of the audience were people from Zanzibar.

The original intention of the Music Coordinator was to feature at least five international groups from India, Gulf States and Comoros, as well as bands from other parts of the African Continent. Because of difficulties in guaranteeing funding and sponsorship for the music in advance of the festival, we made the programme slightly less ambitious and more cost effective, by focussing more on local groups, especially from Unguja (Zanzibar island) which did not cost so much in terms of accommodation and transport.

Musicians were selected using a variety of criteria, including :
commitment to creating music/dance with local/regional identity, ie not necessarily aping Western popular music styles

• artists using hand-made/traditional instruments
• artists reflecting the spirit of dhow culture
• music with positive messages, eg health/environmental/moral issues
• women artists
• using contacts built up by Music Coordinator over years working in world music industry in UK
• groups that had excelled at last years festival
• groups that had been recommended by Zanzibar Ministry of Culture and other local musicians and enthusiasts

Groups from Unguja were well represented, making up some 55% of this year s programme. There was one 20-member group from Pemba island, the Kirumbizi Stick Dancers. Several local people commented that this was the first opportunity theyd had to witness a live show by this group, even though they lived on the sister island nearby. International visitors also said how much they had enjoyed their shows. Other groups from Zanzibar, including Kikundi cha Sanaa Kariakoo and Pafmeka Group (Boha) also performed music and dance with origins in Pemba, including msewe and bosso. Super Star Dancing Group performed a variety of ngoma and traditional dances from mainland Tanzania as well as the islands, and brought their own special dhow which was an integral part of the show.

From Zimbabwe, Andy Brown & The Storm drew the largest audiences (about 2000) and extended their stay in Zanzibar to perform extra shows at CCM Social Hall, Starehe Club and Fishermen s Resort. Their blend of African reggae with modern and ancient Zimbabwean sounds went down very well with people of all ages and they sold the most CDs and cassettes. Chiwoniso lived up to high expectations as generated by her 1999 CD Ancestral Voices, fusing traditional Shona instruments and melodies with fresh, modern arrangements, powerful vocals and deadly bass lines! Pops Mohamed (S Africa) and Zena Edwards (UK) most people agreed, were the heroes of the Festival, and made the headlines several times on TVZ news. Their music shows (dubbed the Pops and Zena Millennium Experience) were largely influenced by the songs of the San (Kalahari) peoples, yet they played a huge range of instruments, including kora, mbira, didgeridoo and water drums as well as using the best of modern technology for recorded loops and samples. Journalists and Channel O DJs report that they had made a big impact with the Zanzibari youth at the Festival in terms of fostering recognition and respect for traditional musics, as well as for their innovative ways of fusing differing musical styles. Other favourites of the festival included Remmy Ongala, Tanzanias most popular musician/songwriter, and Hukwe Zawose and Chibite Dancing Group, also from mainland Tanzania. East African Melody, Zanzibar s most popular group (by far) pulled in the crowds to the Mambo Club and gave one of the best shows, including a song specially composed for the Festival. They were followed by DJ Cool Para, who gave the audience a taste of taa-rap, including a special song for muafaka, to mark the historic occasion of the agreement that had been signed by leaders of the CCM and CUF the week previous to the Festival. Nadi Ikhwaan Safaa played two shows during the Festival, the Opening Ceremony at Bwawani Hotel, as well as a mid week show at the Mambo Club which was very popular, not least because word had got around that they were featuring vocalist Asia El Kindy, from Oman, who had not performed in her birthplace Zanzibar since 1988. Resident music groups from Dar es Salaam, Varda Arts and Hamara Hindustan, also were widely appreciated by audiences from all backgrounds for their interpretations of filmi music and traditional dances from around India, respectively. For full list of musicians that performed at the 1999 Festival, see Appendix 1 below.

As with last years Festival, many people from Zanzibar who came to see the music shows said that they often ended up getting stuck into films which they otherwise would not have seen, and commented that they were pleased to find themselves reflected in the images on screen.

ZIFF continues throughout the year to promote music and cultural events which mostly take place in Zanzibar Town. In September 1999 a night for Swahili rap artists attracted around 500 people, and featured some of Tanzania s finest hip-hop musicians, including Mr II, Dola Soul, GWM (Gangstaz With Matatizo) and Cool Para from Zanzibar. Every Friday the Starehe Club, a venue on the seafront in Shngani, Stone Town, hosts a night of routes in rhythm , featuring DJs spinning a wide variety of dance musics and occasional live performers.

For more information about artists and music from Africa and the dhow countries, please check the links page on Related Sites.

If you are a musician or artist interested in performing at Festival of the Dhow Countries 2000, please email ZIFF with Music Programme in subject box.

Music Workshops
At the 1999 Festival, two groups of international musicians ran workshops, which were very well received by all (local) participants and demonstrated that there exists much scope to build on these foundations for future festivals. Pops Mohamed (S Africa) and Zena Edwards (UK) led a workshop for Zanzibari teenagers, from three different schools, which focussed largely on the cultures of the San peoples of the Kalahari and Xhosa peoples also from Southern Africa. Children from Zanzibar learnt about their traditional instruments, and practised some of their rhythms and melodies through singing and handclapping. The workshop was not only popular with the students and teachers but also international media including MTV/Channel O (South Africa), and Channel 4 (UK), who were in Zanzibar to film a portrait of one of the participants of the workshop as part of a series to be broadcast in UK for the Africa s Child series. The workshop made a great impression with participants and observers about the need to preserve and carry forwards traditional music forms. Pops Mohamed says that modern technology can be used positively as a catalyst to promote traditional sounds: " I don t see all the new dance styles (hip hop, trip hop, house, jungle, drum n bass) as a threat to traditional music. I see them as a new platform to voice ourselves. Fusing new futuristic sounds with ancient cultures, is about one of the only ways I know that can take these beautiful African sounds into the next century."

Members of Andy Brown and the Storm (Zimbabwe) also ran a Sunday lunchtime workshop for sound technicians, which was well attended and demonstrated the interest and local enthusiasm to learn and develop technical skills.

For the future development of Zanzibar, as well as building capacities of artists and promotion of arts and culture in the region, ZIFF is hoping to implement training workshops throughout the year, and not just during the Festival, in such subjects as:
       sound engineering, recording and mixing live music
       legal issues, such as dealing with record companies and copyright laws
       music management, promotion and marketing
       building distribution and touring networks throughout the region

Report prepared by Yusuf Mahmoud, Music Coordinator.