Artists

Solo and Ellika first met on the stage of a club in Stockholm in 1998. There, Senegalese griot music met the Swedish polska.

Solo Cissoko is a griot from a very long story-telling tradition; Ellika Frisell's music has deep roots in the wildly joyous story-telling tradition of Bingsjo. Together they make read more

Born in Kagoshima, Japan in 1974, Sakaki Mango studied the Swahili language at the Osaka University of Foreign Studies, where he also began his research on the music of Tanzania. He travelled to Africa to receive direct training from the late Hukwe Ubi Zawose (then leader of the Tanzanian National read more

Of all the bands that immigrated to East Africa, Super Mazembe has stood the test of time.

Super Mazembe started in 1969 in Likasi, near Lubumbashi, DRC as Super Vox. On tour in neighbouring Zambia during 1970, the band met Nashil Pichen Kazembe, a diehard supporter of one of read more

Kikundi cha Taifa (National Taarab Orchestra) of Zanzibar was founded many years ago, having a flexible set up but always featuring the cream of the crop of taarab musicians from the Islands.

The group is presently under the artistic direction of two of Zanzibar's taarab maestros, Mr Iddi Suwedi of Culture read more

There are many beni bands on the island but this group is one of the best, and a must for any festival. Beni turned the inspiration of colonial military brass bands into a completely local thing, by bringing it into the realm of song and dance competitions. Played mostly at read more

Fresh Jumbe is a Tanzanian singer-songwriter who lives in Tokyo and rocks Japan and Asia with his own style of music, a mix of Tanzanian rumba, rock and mduara. Born in Tanga, on the coast of mainland Tanzania, he started singing with his friends when he was only six years read more