Morogoro Jazz Band

Morogoro Jazz Band was a seminal Tanzanian muziki wa dansi band, one of the few that were not based in Dar es Salaam. The band originally played live at the Morogoro Hotel in Morogoro (about 200 km west of Dar) and became very popular in the 1960s and 1970s, receiving much airplay from Tanzanian radio stations.^[1] The leader of the band was guitarist Mbaraka Mwinshehe, a former member of Cuban Branch Jazz. The original lineup also included Salim Abdullah, who would later found Cuban Marimba.

Mwinshehe left Morogoro Jazz Band in 1973, to found another very successful dansi band, Super Volcano.

The Morogoro Jazz Band created a sound that was a fusion of many different influences, including taarab, Kenyan benga, Cuban rumba, American rhythm and blues, and British pop music.^[1]

Partial discography

• Ujamaa: The 1960s Sound of Tanzania, Buda Musique 860142
• Mbaraka Mwinshehe Mwaruka Soloist National 1968-1972, Tamasha CD TAM501
• Mbaraka Mwinshehe & Morogoro Jazz Masimango (Best of Tanzania 1969-72), Dizim

Footnotes

1. ^ ^{a b} Mbaraka Mwinshehe & Morogoro Jazz