figganigga
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 17, 2010
- 25,492
- 54,895
The Muzikifan "Congo in Kenya" page, with the help of a community of friends and contributors, has grown into a valuable resource for fans of East African music. Therefore I have decided to expand its scope and add the obvious parallel story: Congolese expatriate musicians who ended up in Tanzania. Tanzanian music suffers from the same problems endemic elsewhere in Africa; cassette piracy and lack of equipment and recording facilities.
Tanzanian bands ultimately travelled to Nairobi to record there, but there is also the studios of Radio Tanzania which have made many recordings of local bands for airplay. Radio Tanzania Dar Es Salaam (RTD) had bands come in to record 5 songs at a time, once or twice a year, on their one-track system. (In contrast, CBS in Nairobi boasted a 16-track recording deck.) The RTD tapes were used for airplay and helped publicize the band's live performance, but also got stolen or copied and pirated, particularly in neighboring Kenya. In a huge irony, the major pressing plant in East Africa in the 1970s was PolyGram who were a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips group. It was Philips who introduced the cassette tape in 1963. It was small, and more scratch-, dust- and wear-resistant than the LP and could record longer time. But when cassettes took off as a recording medium it signaled the end for the vinyl market in most of Africa.
Due to the huge popularity of Congolese rumba in the 1970s, spearheaded by Franco & O K Jazz, quite a few bands and musicians from Congo made their home in Tanzania over the years, including Tshimanga Assosa, Remmy Ongala, Nguza Viking, Mzee Makassy and Ndala Kasheba. They became huge local stars, and some even achieved international fame.
One bright note is the existence of the Tanzanian Heritage Project which hopes to preserve the surviving tapes in the Radio Tanzania archives.
courtesy: Discogs.com
courtesy: afro7.net
Orchestre Baya Baya
Their name came from a hit by Bakolo Keta and Orchestre Kiam, as they were an outgrowth of that band. An obituary on digitalcongo.net mentions Jacques Bazizila, who was guitarist of the band under the stage name of Souza Vangu, and who died 18 July 2012 in Brazzaville. After an apprenticeship with African Fiesta, in 1973 (age 23) he joined Verckys' Orchestre Kiam. After Festival Lagos, 1976, the core of the group split to form L'orchestre Baya Baya.
They scored an immediate hit with "Sindangari." (In 1980 Bazizila left to found Les Kamikaze with Youlou Mabiala, Serge Kiambukuta and others.) Some of Baya Baya's singles were issued by the Mabele label in Nairobi, and reissued by the African label in Paris. They may have migrated East, and certainly spent time in Kenya and Tanzania, recording in Swahili. There's a shout-out to Mabele in "Ah, Ndugu!" and Editions Mabele hold the publishing rights to their Tanzanian album, further suggesting it was their own imprint. Their album Nakozonga, recorded at state-run Tanzania Film Company in Dar Es Salaam, came out on the Editions Tanzania label in 1977. Their "Kidogo sana," also recorded in Tanzania, is a contribution to the James Brown/Fela-inspired African funk genre.
LP:
Nakozonga (TLP002) 1977
A1 Nakozonga (Mbuta Teka) 10:00
A2 Mama Munu (Mbuta Teka) 10:00
B1 Nakomi Motu (?) 10:00
B2 Lipopo Souvenir (?) 10:00
45s:
Ah, Ndugu (Mbuta Teka) MBU10, reissued as African 91.148 (1976)
Bulantulu Pts 1 & 2 Eds Mabele MAB 14 (1976)
Bumba 1 & 2 (Ndola wa Dola), MABELE 05, reissued as African 91.069 (1975)
Kidogo Sana (Mbuta Teka) Kwetu (Tanzania) RTRS1068
Lambala 1 & 2, reissued as African 91.070 (1975)
Mama Ndangi Pts 1 & 2 (Malonga Wamona Mpasi) MAB 08 (1975); also ASL 7-2169 (1976); also African 91.085
Mokili ya bato () MBU 11 (re: African 91.xxx)
Mpangi Pts 1 & 2 Eds Mabele, EM 004 (1977)
Nzoto Ya Teka Pts 1 & 2 Eds Mabele, EM 002 (1976)
Sindangari Pts 1 & 2 (Mbuta Teka) Eds Mabele, EM 001 (1976)
Orchestra Makassy
Orchestra Makassy was led by Kitenzogu "Mzee (elder)" Makassy who came from Kivu in Eastern Zaire. The band was formed in Kampala with Zairean and Ugandan musicians in 1975. They were driven out of Uganda by the regime of Idi Amin and made a life in Tanzania, at first as as a cover band at the New Africa Hotel in Dar es Salaam. In the late 70s Remmy Ongala and Mose Se Fan Fan were both members of this internationally popular group and later covered some of the material in their own bands. In 1982 Virgin released their LP Agwaya to great acclaim.
1982 Personnel:
Vocals: Mzee Makassy / Tshimanga Assosa / Nduka Masingu / Athumani Kindya
Guitar: Aimala Mbutu / Alfani Uvuruge
Bass: Kasongo Shinga
Trumpet solo: Twalib Mohamed
Trumpet: Seye Kadimoke
Alto sax: Akuliake Saleh
Tenor sax: Kayumba Ramadhani
Drum kit: Tubadilako Museki / Yusufu Kalanga
Tumba: Zakwani Kasamby
Notes: Micky Jaga Jaga, whose real name is Tubadilako, played drums on the Agwaya album. Although Remmy Ongala did not participate in the recording of Agwaya, you can see him on the cover. In the group picture he is sitting at the right end. Was Ongala in Kenya at the time? No, he wasn't, the picture is fake. It's an old group photo from Tanzania pasted on a background with the Nairobi skyline.
Although Remmy was not with group anymore, Mzee Makassy picked Ongala's "Mume Wangu" to re-record for the Agwaya album as "Mke Wangu" (both versions are included on the Agwaya CD). And as Fan Fan did not take part in the Agwaya sessions either, two of his songs were also re-recorded without him, "Mosese" and "Molema".
Soon after the recording of Agwaya, Orch. Makassy broke up. This happened when the European tour they were eagerly waiting for did not materialize. Some musicians, including Micky, decided to stay in Kenya. Others, like Mzee Makassy, returned to Tanzania. -- Peter Toll
cassettes:
Muziki Orchestra Makassy (ZEMKC 1 1984)
Mosese (Makassy single EMK 02)
Siku Ya Kufa (Makassy single EMK 01)
Athumani (Makassy single EMK 03)
Mume Wangu (Makassy single EMK 04)