Popular Music in Regional Cultural Dynamics

The purpose of this paper is to trace the historical outline of the development of popular dance bands in Tanzania, with special reference to their relationship with long-term cultural trends in the region.Dance bands (“jazz bands” as they are known in East Africa) have been flourishing throughout Tanzania over the past five decades. In the early days, they emerged as communal social clubs (“jazz clubs”) in various urban centers from the 1940s, probably on the basis of the pre-existing traditions of competitive dance societies (beni ngoma), as well as the wide diffusion of coastal Swahili culture, which dates back to the mid-19th century. Like beni societies, jazz clubs developed as multi-ethnic organizations with a mutual aid function, fostered rival relations within each urban center, besides forming networks among the clubs in different towns. This jazz-club movement culminated in the 1960s when Dar es Salaam, the capital, and some provincial towns produced a number of famous jazz bands, which became popular throughout East Africa.Post-independence changes in the economic and political system had a considerable impact upon the social character of urban musical activities. From the mid-1960s, chiefly in Dar es Salaam, a number of jazz bands were launched by various governmental organizations and public corporations. Enjoying the various advantages of public sector patronage under socialist rule, these “publicly-owned bands” were often mobilized for the political and economic purposes of the government. Frequent local tours and radio broadcasting contributed significantly to the achievement of nationwide fame by these bands. Partly for this reason, and also thanks to stable institutional backing, some long-standing publicly-owned bands have survived post-socialist economic changes and still retain their status as top bands even into the 1990s.Along the way, jazz bands always had a close connection with the regional cultural dynamics of 20th century Tanzania, that is, the wide diffusion of Swahili-oriented culture in the colonial era and the post-independence formation of a nationwide common culture

Art · Club · Dance · Geography · Jazz · Political science · Politics · Visual arts · African history and culture studies · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History

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