Mlimani Park Orchestra and Super Maya Baikoko to Perform at Sauti za Busara

15-01-2013

Dar es Salaam’s muziki wa dansi masters Mlimani Park Orchestra will take their vibes to the 10th edition of Zanzibar’s Sauti za Busara Festival. Also – and on a big stage for the first time – talk-of-town Dar nightlife sensation Super Maya. Baikoko ngoma from the Digo villages around Tanga has recently become one of the most loved night entertainments around Dar es Salaam. Baikoko groups play in roadside bars, at weddings or being invited as an added attraction for modern taarab nights. The young man who started it all is Juma Hussein, also known as “Maya”.  read more ››

Jagwa Music Rocks Lac Genève

09-11-2012

Here’s a short review of Jagwa’s performance at Le Bourg. Lausanne last night:

La révolution Jagwa Music

« Ils ont débarqué hier soir sur la scène du Bourg tel un tsunami musical. Ils ce sont les six musiciens de Jagwa Music. Quatre percussionnistes et un clavier pour une déferlante de rythmes et de sons saturés. Et un chanteur qui arpente le devant de la scène entre rap, chant et harangues. Ils jouent sur des percussions africaines, dont un tambour basse dont les vibrations vous remuent les entrailles à chaque frappe, mais balancent aussi leur frappe sur un…. tabouret. Quant au clavier, il a l’allure d’un jouet d’enfant, une simple rangée de notes blanches et noires posées sur les genoux d’un des membres du groupe qui d’une main plaque quelques accords et de l’autre esquisse une mélodie minimale, son pouce courant sur les notes rapidement. Ce style s’appelle mchiriku et fait penser à du Konono n° 1 ou du Kasaï All Stars sous l’influence de substances excitantes. … »
[Elisabeth Stoudmann 09. Nov 12]

Jagwa Music’s European Tour

03-11-2012

Jagwa Music are in the midst of a short European tour. The pictures show singer Jackie and master drummer Mazinge on stage at Amsterdam's Melkweg earlier this week. They will be playing at Musique Publique at Théâtre Molière in Brussels on November 3, and at Comptoir Général in Paris on November 4.  read more ››

Jagwa Music’s First International Release to be out on Crammed Discs in May

03-15-2012

“The debut album by the exciting Afro-punk collective from Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania), JAGWA MUSIC, whose electrifying appearances at festivals such as Roskilde have created a sensation. Imagine a crew of 8 youngsters (with a great, urban dress sense) playing nutty grooves at breakneck speed on traditional percussion, a keyboard player going mad on a battered vintage Casio, and three relentless front persons: two breathtaking, spectacular dancers and a charismatic lead vocalist/MC, belting out songs about survival in the urban maze, unfaithful lovers and voodoo.” [Release date: May 2012]

For current information and media please visit:
www.crammed.be ››

Jagwa Music: First Tour Dates Announced

03-15-2012

Jagwa will be on a European tour again in May and June 2012. They will play festivals in Chiasso (CH), Gothenburg (SE), Linz (AT), Llubljana (SI), Nijmegen (NL), Prague (CZ) among others. More dates to be announced soon.

For more information:
tour dates ››

2011: Jagwa Music takes the street vibe of Dar es Salaam to the big stage

06-10-2011

Jagwa Music just completed a short European tour which took them to the Roskilde Festival (DK) and TFF Rudolstadt (D) among others. Successfully transforming the vibe of their Dar es Salaam street performances to the big stage singer Jackie Kazimoto and crew transformed Roskilde’s Cosmopol tent into crazy party that lasted until the curfew at 4 am. Here’s what the Danish press made of their show:

A HARD-HITTING PARTY: JAGWA MUSIC IS COMPLETELY OUT OF CATEGORY
A wildly syncopated rhythm section in sickly exorbitant high-speed interaction with a cheap Casio-keyboard spitting harmonic Esperanto. And a lead singer with the charm of a young Michael Jackson flanked by two absolutely out of hand/unruly dancers, just as dirty/bawdy and funny as acrobatic. Rarely has Cosmopol driven the energy level that high and merry.
[Ralf Christensen, Information, July 4, 2011, p. 1; www.information.dk]

IRRESISTIBLE ROCKERS FROM TANZANIA
The lead singer of the incredible group which is establishing East African sounds in the global conscience, is a fantastic, wonderful and cheeky guy with a strolling, almost flippant appearance. And behind him is an ensemble, which mostly consists of percussionists, who weave a flying carpet of beats, while the melodic parts are performed by a kid with a small keyboard, which unmistakably resembles the one I bought for my daughter, when she was five. And I dare say that it moves. […] They are a street style band like the more famous ones from Congo. But the way they kick ass, the role as the underdog is soon to end. And as the last band Saturday night on Cosmopol they made a packed tent go crazy. The audience did not want to let go of the party. Unequalled/brilliant, simply!
[Torben Holleufer, Gaffa, July 3, 2011; www.gaffa.dk]

read more about Jagwa Music ››

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