Sauti za Busara 2007 |
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The fourth edition of the Sauti za Busara music festival will take place in Zanzibar, February 9 -14th 2007; and once again admission is free to all each day before 8pm.
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Held annually, around mid February, the festival brings together people of all ages and backgrounds in an exploration and celebration of the wealth and diversity of Swahili music. The festival showcases a dynamic mix of music and performing arts groups, mostly from around East Africa, with some specially invited international groups. Centered in the Old Fort on the seafront of historic Stone Town, this year’s festival will also host events in other neighbourhoods of town, and one or two villages close to Zanzibar’s world-famous beach locations.
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More than one hundred groups have performed at the festival over the past few years including Juma Nature & Wanaume Family TMK, Saida Karoli, Mchinga Generation, Ferooz and Das Nundaz, Eric Wainaina, Ghorwane, The Shrine Synchrosystem, Taffetas, Atongo Zimba, African Revolution Band, Maulidi ya Homu ya Mtendeni, El Tanbura, Seiyun Popular Arts, Culture Music Club, Chibite, Wagosi wa Kaya and many more. After being spotted at Sauti za Busara, many East African artists have been invited to perform at international festivals around the world, including Afrikali Band, Oya Theatre, Zemkala, Jagwa Music, X Plastaz, Sinachuki Kidumbak and others.
For artists wanting to participate in the 2007 festival, we must receive
your applications before end of August. Send your applications by letter
or email
to reach the office of Busara Promotions (address below). Applications must
include recent recordings (audio and/or video), pictures and biography information.
If you have a press-kit, then please send this too.
For artists performing in the Festival or participating in workshops, the Festival usually provides artists fees and covers expenses in Zanzibar, including local travel, accommodation, food and other incidentals. Artists from outside East Africa will usually have to find their own travel sponsors.
The festival would not be possible without the generous support of our donors and sponsors.
To all potential donors and sponsors, we have just prepared our Funding Partnership pack, including a promotional video, our festival proposal, budget and a list of ingenious ways that your name can be seen as part of the Festival's success. If you are interested please contact us.
If you have the opportunity to promote the Sauti za Busara festival we’d very much like your help. Maybe you have a mailing list, a website, a notice board or advertising space?
A few words of recommendation and a link to our website will always be appreciated. In return, we can put you on our links page.
We can also supply you with posters and publicity postcards if it’s not too expensive.
Well, not exactly, but there are loads of video clips, pictures and reviews out there:
| 2006 video clips |
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| 2006 review |
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| 2005 review |
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| 2004 review |
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| 2006 In pictures: |
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Busara Artists |
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WOMEX
Award 2005 winner, Bi Kidude is in Europe again this week, with her all-women
drum&dance ensemble. The celebrated queen of taarab and Zanzibar’s best
loved ambassador diva heroine performs traditional unyago ngoma shows at Festival Mundial in
The Netherlands, June 15-18 where she will also be talking about the forthcoming
feature documentary film “As Old As My Tongue”, produced by ScreenStation
UK.
As Old As My Tongue has been filmed over the last three years in Zanzibar and on tour with Bi Kidude. More than a biography, it is an insight into the politics and personalities of Zanzibar's spicy contemporary society. The soundtrack features a specially commissioned soundscape, voiced by co-producer Rita Ray and featuring a hundred years of Indian Ocean vibes with influences from Groove Armada to Taj Mahal alongside dozens of Zanzibari musical legends, with new English translations of classic Swahili and Arabic lyrics.
Bi Kidude is a living legend on her home island of Zanzibar, and has beguiled audiences around the world on her wide and varied travels. A favourite of sultans, presidents, and sailors, her story is remarkable, challenging our perception of age (she’s ninety something, going on sixteen), and of women in a Muslim society. See her up close in her humble home then out on the town, smoking and flirting.
You’ve heard
of Bongo Flava and Congotronics. Coming your way soon is “Bongotronics”,
urban ghetto sounds from the suburbs of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Jagwa Music play a style of music with chakacha roots known as mchiriku. The group features minimal instruments including a hand-held Casio keyboard, occasional guitar, a few drums, whistles and a battered old stool beaten with sticks.
Big hits at WOMEX 2005, Jagwa Music guarantee to set any concert venue ablaze with explosive performances that always keep the crowds jumping and bouncing from start to finish. Their stage show is awesome – a non-stop gymnastic workout choreographed with skill and sensitivity, combining theatrics, acrobatic prowess, no small amount of humour and more energy than an atom bomb.
After more than a dozen local cassette releases, Jagwa Music have finally recorded their first CD, which will be released around the end of the year. Meanwhile their new videoclip, Maisha Popote is very much in demand and building more excitement and anticipation.
“Suddenly, we are all swept up in something so frantic it’s difficult to know whether to run or get pummelled into the sand. It’s like walking into a monsoon. This is possibly the most outrageously thrilling spectacle in Africa today”. MOJO Magazine, May 2006.
Coming Up |
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ZIFF Festival of the Dhow Countries
From the vantage point of Zanzibar, ZIFF Festival of the Dhow Countries provides an opportunity to offer perspectives on contemporary trends in global culture which address the defining ideas of the twenty-first century incorporated in the themes of cultural diversity, individual integrity, social justice, women, children, diaspora culture and conservation. |
Avante Mozambique! Festival
We’re hoping to take Bi Kidude Unyago Ngoma Group and Jagwa Music from Dar es Salaam. We'll let you know more nearer the time.
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Opportunities |
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Busara
Promotions is seeking to recruit a full-time Arts Administrator on an internship
for the period of August 2006 – March 2007.
The applicant should be East African and have a demonstrable interest in African music, some basic computer skills and good written and oral Kiswahili, preferably with some knowledge of English.
The successful applicant will receive on-the-job training to gain an overview of administrative procedures, events management and promotion, and to build knowledge of the regional music scene. S/he will gain practical experience in setting up internal and external concerts and tours, arts training, seminars and workshops and preparations for Sauti za Busara Music Festival, taking place in Zanzibar February 2007.
The successful applicant will be based at the Busara office in Stone Town, Zanzibar and should be willing to travel as required. S/he will be provided with a modest honorarium for the period of internship and will hopefully become well equipped to further develop a career in arts administration and events management in the burgeoning music and cultural sector of East Africa for years to come.
Interested persons should send email or letter of application together with CV to arrive at the office of Busara Promotions (below) not later than 27th June 2006.
Occasionally Busara Promotions is able to offer short term placements for skilled and experienced music professionals, for example: music producers and sound engineers. Such placements are usually on a voluntary basis and involve on-the-job training of Tanzanians.
Contact us for more details in case you fit the bill.
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B-Connected Music Festival |
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Dar es Salaam – 21 May 2006
Busara Promotions were delighted to get involved with the recent B-Connected festival, linking up with coinciding concerts in South Africa, Ethiopia, Hungary and the Netherlands.
"This is the best public show I have ever witnessed in Dar es Salaam," a Maasai youngster, who gave his name only as Joshua, and sweating profusely from dancing all over the place, told a reporter from the Daily News.
Performers had won the chance to play at the festival after entering regional Open Mic competitions. Earlier in the month, Busara had been on the panel of judges for the Zanzibar round and proudly sponsored the travel and subsistence costs of the Zanzibar winners: Bz Broo, a hip hop duo, and Shirikisho Sanaa, a traditional group.
Busara Office: CD faves |
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Looking for some music suggestions? Here’s what’s getting played in the Busara Office at the moment:
| Toumani Diabate & Symmetric Orchestra |
Boulevard de l’Independence |
(Mali) |
World Circuit |
| Gigi |
Gold & Wax |
(Ethiopia) |
Palmbeat |
| Wanaume Family TMK |
Ndio Zetu |
(Tanzania) |
Bongo Records |
| Ursula Rucker |
Ma’at Mama |
(USA) |
K7 |
| Various Artists |
Midnight in Mali |
(Mali) |
Sterns |
| Tiken Jah Fakoly |
Coup De Gueule |
(Ivory Coast) |
Wrasse |
| Various Artists |
Rough Guide to Tanzania |
(Tanzania) |
World Music Network |
| Gotan Project |
Lunatico |
(France) |
XL |
| Natacha Atlas |
Mish Maoul |
(UK) |
Mantra |
| Samba Mapangala |
Song & Dance |
(DRC) |
Virunga |
| The Streets |
The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living |
(UK) |
679 |
| Atongo Zimba |
Savannah Breeze |
(Ghana) |
Hippo Records |
5-day forecast – Zanzibar – February 2007 |
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Contact Us |
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Busara Promotions, PO Box 3635, Zanzibar, Tanzania +255 24 223 2423 or +255 777 428 478 Find us in Stone Town, between Africa House and Serena Hotel, opposite Amore Mio.
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