Thursday, June 19, 2014

MZUNGU KICHAA NA RICO SINGLE KUKINUKISHA LEO ZANZIBAR LIVE!!

Music Coordinator wa ZIFF, Edward Lusala akiwatambulisha wasanii watakaotumbuiza usiku wa leo kwenye tamasha la 17 la ZIFF 2014 ndani ya viunga vya Mambo Club - Ngome Kongwe visiwani Zanzibar wakati wa mkutano na waandishi wa habari. Katikati ni msanii wa muziki nchini almaarufu kama Mzungu Kichaa na Kulia ni Msanii Grace Matata.

Mzungu Kichaa akizungumza na waandishi wa habari wakati wa mkutano na waandishi wa habari kwenye hoteli ya Doubletree by Hilton, ambapo amelishukuru tamasha la ZIFF 2014 kwa kutoa nafasi kwa wasanii wanaoimba Live Music kuonyesha uwezo wao kwenye tamasha hilo linaloukutanisha watu mbalimbali kutoka kila kona ya dunia ikiwemo na kubadilishana uwezo na wasanii wengine wa nje.

Msanii wa muziki wa Bongo flava visiwani Zanzibar almaarufu kama Rico Single, akizungumza na waandishi wa habari ambapo ameahidi kuwapa raha ya Live Music kupitia bendi ya BODY, MIND & SOUL kutoka nchini Malawi itakayokuwa ikimpigia vyombo, vilevile amewapongeza waandaji wa tamasha hilo kwa kuwapa nafasi na kuwatangaza wazawa kimataifa kupitia tamasha hilo

Baadhi ya wasanii wa filamu na muziki wakati wa mkutano na waandishi wa habari kwenye hoteli ya Doubletree by Hilton visiwani Zanzibar.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

INNOCENT NGANYAGWA KUTUMBUIZA TAMASHA LA ZIFF 2014 USIKU HUU NDANI YA UKUMBI WA MAMBO CLUB, NGOME KONGWE

Mwanamuziki Mkongwe wa Rege nchini, Innocent Nganyagwa akizungumza na waandishi wa habari (hawapo pichani) kuhusiana na show yake kwenye tamasha la ZIFF 2014 usiku wa leo ndani ya ukumbi wa Mambo Club kwenye viunga vya Ngome Kongwe visiwani Zanzibar.Kushoto Mtaalamu wa masuala ya habari ZIFF, Bw. Dave Ojay.

Baadhi ya wageni mbalimbali na waandishi wa habari wanaohuduria tamasha la ZIFF 2014 linaloendelea kutimua vumbi visiwani Zanzibar.(Picha na Zainul Mzige wa MOblog).

MAANDALIZI YA UFUNGUZI WA TAMASHA LA ZIFF ZANZIBAR

PHOTOS CREDIT TO ZAINUL MZINGE MO BLOG

Friday, June 13, 2014

ZANZIBAR INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL>> ZIFF>> - A FEAST OF FILM, MUSIC & VISUAL ART

The Zanzibar International Film Festival 2014 is host to more than film screenings. The 8 day line-up also includes nightly musical performances, visual art exhibitions and more. The focus on Swahili arts & culture is an important element of the festival, especially in light of the historical lack of Swahili art exhibitions.

The music programme is a celebration of the African sound, with top artists from across the continent including Didier Awadi from Senegal, Habib Koite from Mali, and Tanzania’s AY.

Opening Weekend & Women’s Panorama

Opening Parade

June 14^th 15:00 Benbela School – Old Fort

Join in the festivities as we officially kick-off ZIFF 2014. The theme for this year’s parade is A Common Destiny – Unite Against Gender Based Violence.

Dhow Race

June 15^th, Tembo Hotel Beach 14:00

One of ZIFF’s most popular attractions, come cheer on the Dhows as they race in this exciting event.

Market & Chill Out Café – Daily from 10am – 4pm

House of Wonders

Explore the wares on-sale from the women vendors of Zanzibar. Daily entertainment includes the following:

June 17^th: Kidumbak Performance

June 18^th: Mrembo tips and tricks 14:00

June 19^th: Fashion Show 15:00

June 20^th: Music Performance

June 21^st: Kidumbak Performance

June 22^nd: Puppet Show

Visual Arts

“Swahili Gift” an Exhibition by Seif Soud

Monday June 16^th – 22^nd June Double Tree Hilton Hotel

Seif Soud is a Zanzabari born and bred artist who began performaning his craft in 1999 in the Ngome KOngwe Art Precinct in Stonetown Zanzibar.

In this exhibition he paints sites and images that are inspired by Swahili cultural materials, colours and way of life, which fuses to create a lasting impact on the viewer.

Afrika Tutafika Exhibition

June 15 – 18^th Old Customs House

This exhibition from the Ugandan design house features African inspired fashion that are made in Uganda from locally sourced materials.

Sisygambis

June 19^th – 22^nd Old Customs House

With this creation on 3 screens, Christine Coulange achieves a long-term multimedia work : 5 years of travel, sound recording, sound and images composition while following musicians, rites and ceremonies in the deserts and the villages, in the islands and the cities all along this big geographic arc which joins up the Mediterranean sea and the Indian Ocean.

It is long journey across the Spice Road, a wide crossing full of sonorous images, rhythms from Egypt to Laos and Malaysia, through Tanzania, Kenya, the Comoros and Zanzibar. We follow the vital lead of rituals, rare and powerful, overwhelming landscapes, every day’s life details… Eyes and ears open to actions and rhythms, to collective ritual practice, to body language, to echoing threnodies, Sisygambis sew together traditional music and surrounding sounds to their own electronic compositions.

Transported by trance music and seams from ancestral and contemporary cultures, the film makers-composers want to transmit through musical and visual sampling the power of gestures, the singularity of ordinary and extraordinary voices, the strength and the beauty of men and women at the other end of our common world.

Music & Performance

Music-wise the festival will feature 13 performing groups with Didier Awadi, the Senegalese maestro performing on the opening night on 14^th June. Live music followed by DJ’s will take place every night after the main movie screening in the Old Fort.

Groups from Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi and Egypt are scheduled to entice audiences over the 9 nights of the festival.

All concerts will take place at the Old Fort and tickets are available online at www.ziff.or.tz

June 14^th. Tamaduni Music (Tanzania), Didier Awadi (Senegal)

June 15^th: Cocodo Band (Tanzania), Sauti Sol (Kenya)

June 16^th: Raha-T- Zamani (Zanzibar), Warriors From the East (Kenya/Tanzania), Tanuri Group (Egypt)

June 17^th: Sisi Na Wew, Madame Faki / Kidumbak (Zanzibar)

June 18^th: DCMA (Zanzibar), Ras Innocent Nganyagwa Tanzania)

June 19^th: Rico Single (Zanzibar), Mzungu Kichaa (Zanzibar/ Tanzania)

June 20^th: Smile (Zanzibar),Grace Matata (Tanzania), Comoros, Makamando

June 21^st : ZIFF After Party with Godykaozya & The Tongwa Ensemble (Tanzania), Habib Koite (Mali)

June 22^nd: AFDA After Party with AY(Tanzania), Body, Mind & Soul (Malawi), AY (Tanzania)

Online Ticket Purchases

All evening concert event tickets can be purchased in advance conveniently via 3G Directpay, which will provide with the online payment service for the nine-day bounty of special programming and festivities. Passes will be available for purchase at www.ziff.or.tz .

About ZIFF

The Zanzibar International Film Festival is the longest running film-festival in East Africa, with global credibility and instant Pan-African recognition.

The ZIFF Festival of the Dhow Countries is organized by ZIFF, a non-governmental, non-profit organization founded in 1998 in Zanzibar to promote and showcase the culture of the Dhow Countries. Every cent raised from sponsors and donors ensures the widest possible accessibility of high- quality international screenings and cultural events to all sections of the Tanzanian population.

The ZIFF Festival of the Dhow Countries is a catalyst for the promotion and development of the region’s cultural industries. It encourages and supports the development of artistic skills and the infrastructure necessary for a vibrant and innovative arts environment.

The festival programme gives particular prominence to the visibility and interests of women and children, including the youth.

The main panorama features international film and video screenings, and international retrospectives along with music and performances, main stage events, exhibitions, workshops and seminars.

Emphasis has been given to The East African Film Makers forum and this will continue in Festival 2014, as will dialogues with various filmmakers from across the region.

For more information: www.ziff.or.tz, www.facebook.com/zanzibarinternationalfilmfestival, @ZIFF_2014 #ZIFF2014

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

SWAHILI VIBES, RAS INNOCENT NGANYAGWA, SAUTI SOL, MZUNGU KICHAA, AMBWENE YESAYA, GRACE MATATA AND HABIB KOITE FOR THE ZANZIBAR INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 18TH-26TH JUNE 2014

Swahili Vibes is the Band of Young Talented Musicians from Zanzibar which is the main Head Quarter of the band. Early 2009 saw the birth of a new and exciting group formed by eight of the most talented students of Zanzibar's Dhow Countries Music Academy (DCMA). Despite their tender age, all are creative and talented musicians; they write and compose their own Swahili Vibes is the Band of Young Talented Musicians from Zanzibar which is the main Head Quarter of the band All Musicians in this band are the students of Dhow Countries Music Academy Zanzibar.

Ras Inno's real name is Innocent Nganyagwa. He is originally from Dar, but has also lived in Iringa in Southern Tanzania and Tanga in Northeastern Tanzania. Already in 1982 when he was 17 years old he heard of Bob Marley and started to listen to reggae. In 1989-90 he turned to music seriously, learnt the guitar and started to compose music and write texts. He is now playing bass guitar and sings. He has no band, but team up with session musicians for live gigs and recording sessions.

He performs live 8-12 times in a year. It is expensive to rent instruments, pay for marketing and promotion etc. He also shares the difficulties to market recordings with other musicians in Tanzania:

After I finished recording the studio gives me the master tape. It's up to me to look for anyone who can buy my songs and serve them to the people who want to buy them. We have no special system of serving and buying records from artists. That's we may have a very good song, maybe very popular through media, people see you always on TV, hear you always on radio, there is so much written in the newspapers, but you are just another guy like all other guys. One of the musicians. That's our basic problem.

Ras Inno has made a few songs in Swahili, but usually they are in English. About his musical style he says:

It sounds different from Jamaican reggae and European reggae, even different from South African kind of reggae. If you listen to my songs they have something Tanzanian in them. They are songs that can make anyone listen.

When asked what it means to be a rasta in Tanzania he says:

In Tanzania you may find many different explanations. A lot of misunderstanding. They think it's just smoking ganja. You even find different groups of rastas. These can't cope with these etc. Because those don't believe in what these are believing in and these don't believe what those are believing in. There are some rules that applies to the way you live.

Like a lot of rastas here think when you are a rastafarian you don't have to be smart. I don't believe in that. Have you tried to move around in town? You find different kinds of rastas. When you're smart you're not rasta to them. When I say smart, I mean not walking smoking ganja in public, if I meat a policeman I don't care. I'm a rasta man, I'm allowed to smoke. Some takes it that way. When it comes to music some say if you sing some subject in music that maybe is going contrary to rasta beliefs you're not rasta to them.

I sing a lot about children. I say it's a lot of street children because of unplanned parenthood. Some people say "No, you're not rasta. You're talking to us about planning parenthood." That's something not rasta. But I know it's a lot of street children because of that thing and I sing. Should you be a reggae musician for the rasta or a reggae musician for the whole society?

If you talk to Jah Kimbute or some other he would tell you his views in a different way. I want more people to be rasta and one way to do this is to make them close to me by singing about their day to day life, day to day problems. My main problems are the problems facing all Tanzanians in their day to day living. We have a lot of hardships, economical and so on. I cannot say because I'm a rasta I'm allowed to do this, because then everybody is allowed to do anything.

Sauti Sol is a Kenyan Afro-pop band from Nairobi comprising members; Bien Aime Baraza (vocals & guitar), Polycarp Otieno (guitar),Willis Austin Chimano (vocals, saxophone & keytar) and Delvin Mudigi (vocals, percussion & drums) formed in 2005. Starting off as an a-Capella group, Bien, Chimano and Delvin previously met in Upper Hill high school where they performed in Voices in the Light, a high school music group. After that stint, the trio met guitarist Polycarp at Alliance Française, where they would frequent and decided to form Sauti (Swahili for voice) and immediately wrote their first song, Mafunzo ya Dunia (Life Lessons) that would later feature in their first album,Mwanzo, which is Swahili for "beginning”, which was released in August, 2009.

Their second album, Sol Filosofia, was released in February, 2011. The band has had successful tours in Europe as well as in Africa, topped Kenyan charts and gained international attention with shows in Europe and the US, as well as television appearances, various nominations, including their 2011 celebrated concert performance in Kenya with Ladysmith Black Mambazo (Internationally renowned South African a cappella group). In June 2012, Sauti Sol released ‘Sauti Sol’, a self-titled EP and collaborative effort with South African avant-garde innovative rapper/producer Spoek Mathambo.On 29th April 2014 the band released "Nishike" which caused a lot of uproar on the media due to its steamy content and this led to the song not being played on most local TV stations

Habib Koité is a solo singer, songwriter and guitarist, based in Mali. His band,Bamada, is a supergroup of West African musicians, including Kélétigui Diabaté playing balafon. Koité is known primarily for his unique approach to playing the guitar by tuning it on a pentatonic scale and playing on open strings as one would on a kamale n'goni. Other pieces of his music sound more like the blues or flamencowhich are two styles he learned under Khalilou Traore.

Koité's vocal style is intimate and relaxed, emphasizing calm, moody singing rather than operatic technical prowess. Members of Bamada play talking drum, guitar, bass, drum set, harmonica, violin, calabash, and balafon. Koité composes and arranges all songs, singing in English, French, and Bambara.

Grace Matata is one of Tanzanian artist. She does her work and lives in Dar Es Salaam.She attended Tambaza High School and studied basic tax management at IFM-Institute of Finance Management, her first single was 'Wimbo'. Other songs include Si Rahisi, Nyakati and Free soul.

Mzungu Kichaa aka Espen Sørensen is a Danish singer and musician. He was born in Denmark, but grew up in Tanzania, where his parents worked in the field of Development Cooperation. They went there when he was six years old. In Tanzania he learned to speak Swahili fluently and later on he got involved in music and particularly in the production of Bongo Flava at Bongo Records. The latest outcome of his interest in East African music is his first solo album "Tuko Pamoja".In the late 1990s Espen Sørensen was among the first artists that started recording at Bongo Records in Dar Es Salaam, among them Juma Nature, TID, Mangwair,Ferooz and Professor Jay. During that time it was also, when he got his artist's name Mzungu Kichaa, what can be translated by "Crazy white man".He didn't appear among the upcoming artists in Tanzania at that time, but did some choruses on several songs around 2001. Later on he went to the UK to do his undergraduate studies in Music and Cultural Anthropology. After finishing his MA in African Studies he stepped back to his music career, founding a group called Effigong in 2006. In 2008 he decided to continue as a solo artist and sucdeeded to release his first record in 2009 on the independent label Caravan Records. The album was first released in East Africa, but after getting airplay on several European radio stations it was also released in Europe in May 2009. The songs of the album, like "Jitolee" (feat. Professor Jay) or "Wajanja" are all in Swahili, the language mainly used in East African Bongo Flava. The lyrics of the songs focus on social problems in Tanzania, like poverty. Sørensen did a three-weeks promotion tour for his album in February 2009, mainly in Tanzania and Kenya, but he also performed in Denmark with the backing group ReCulture.The single Jitolee has been a hit in Tanzania and Kenya

Ambwene Allen Yessayah, better known by his stage name as A.Y., is a Tanzanian bongo flava artist. He was born on July 5, 1981 in Mtwara, Southern part of Tanzania. He began his career with the group S.O.G. in 1996. He decided to go solo in 2002. AY is among the first bongo flava artists to commercialize hip hop. He was member of the musical group known as East Coast Army, but now he's no longer part of the group. He is still releasing songs and albums collaborating most with an ex-coast artist MwanaFA.SOURCE SEIF KABELELEE BLOG

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

FURSA: MAFUNZO YA KUPIGA ALA ZA MUZIKI KUANZA TENA MWEZI MEI‏

Baadhi ya wanafunzi wakiwa kwenye mazoezi

Action Music Tanzania (AMTz) inatangaza fursa kwa watu wote kujiunga na mafunzo ya kupiga ala za muziki yanayoanza tarehe 3/5/2014, lengo likiwa ni kuwajengea uwezo wanamuziki wa kupiga ala na kufanya maonesho kwa weledi na utaalamu zaidi.

Baadhi ya wanafunzi wakiwa darasani

Mafunzo yanayotolewa ni pamoja na upigaji wa ala za muziki zikiwemo gita, kinanda, tarumbeta, saxophone, konga, drum set, na upigaji wa ngoma za asili. Pia yatatolewa mafunzo ya ‘body percussion’ yaani matumizi ya mwili katika kutengeneza midundo ya muziki.

Mafunzo hayo yanafanyika kwenye ofisi za AMTZ zilizopo maeneo ya Mwenge mtaa wa Umoja, nyuma ya magorofa ya jeshi na kwenye Idara ya Sanaa na Sanaa za Maonesho Chuo Kikuu cha Dar es Salaam ambapo ili kujiunga na mafunzo haya wasiliana nao kwa simu namba 0686928828/0653075791 ili kupata fomu za kujiunga na mafunzo.