Tanzania's Msafiri Zawose to hold workshops in the US

Zawose's trip to the US is supported by the Austin Cultural Arts Division and the Presser Foundation, a private entity dedicated solely to music philanthropy and music education.

“This is a great opportunity to not only dispatch knowledge but also to receive it,” Zawose told Music In Africa. “It is my hope that this encounter will be fruitful for myself and for the individuals who I will be spending time with.

"As an artist, who does play typically organic music of Tanzanian descent, I am always happy when an opportunity to promote or introduce this genre to the world presents itself.”

Zawose, who is the son of the late singer Hukwe Zawose, said his workshops would aim to demonstrate traditional music elements to create a deeper understanding of African culture.

“I will introduce them to my music instruments, teach them how to make and play them, and how to sing with African nuances,” Zawose said, adding that his concerts would feature original compositions on the kalimba, marimba and zeze instruments.

Zawose hopes the US trip will give him "an opportunity to experiment with other musicians and get contacts for future collaborations”.

But the musician says that the Tanzanian music scene has seen a massive decline in traditional music due to Westernisation. 

“There is no enough opportunities for traditional musicians to showcase their work,” he said. “There is also no support, respect and value for these musicians. This is due to the dominance of Western music education.” 

Asked to talk about Tanzania’s recording industry, Zawose said: “There aren’t enough qualified sound engineers who can record live music in studios. Skills is not the issue but rather that they don’t know the original sounds. This is why we have a lot of imitations in our current popular music. If they understood  traditional music, they could create countless beats from it."

For more information about Msafiri Zawose's visit to the US, click here.