Artists

Usambara Sanaa play the traditional music and dance of the Wasambaa called Mdumange. The Mdumange ngoma style is music for happy times. It is played at weddings, harvests, weekends, or public celebrations.

One of the factors that makes this style interesting is its interactive nature, whereby the audience read more

Zanzibar's most promising Hiphop group, playing a variety of Rap, Ragga and R&B music using swahili language, like most hip hop artists their songs are about love and issues affecting daily lives of people in their society. They have participated in a number of concerts and at the 2003 Festival read more

Sahra Halgan sings with a clear, uplifting voice in the traditional Somali style, which bears much in common with the music of Sudan and the Arabian peninsula. It is often accompanied only by handclaps, although for the last several years Halgan has been touring with French musicians Aymeric Krol read more

In the port city of Marseilles, home to many a nomadic soul, Joe Driscoll first met Sekou Kouyate. The two were paired up to collaborate at the French festival 'Nuit Metis' (Nights of Mixed Race), and though they shared no spoken common language, they encountered no obstacles communicating through read more

Mrisho Mpoto is one of East Africa's leading new generation of Kiswahili poets. His fame throughout the region is also unrivalled as actor, theatre director and a story-teller. Mrisho Mpoto resides in Dar es Salaam, where he spent many years working with Parapanda Theatre Lab. His artistic accomplishments are many read more

When HAJAmadagascar and his band turn up the heat, even the coolest audience melts after just a short time with a show that generates immense energy around its charismatic guitarist, singer, multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, and above all showman. "Our music reflects our being", he says. "We love our traditions, but read more