Kilimanjaro Band

The Kilimanjaro Band was formed over 30 years ago in Tanga, a town on the Swahili coast of Tanzania. They began with the name The Love Bugs, then performing mostly cover songs. The band later changed its name to The Revolutions and moved to Dar es Salaam, where there was stiff competition from older, established bands. They began to perform in top hotels and tourist centers in Arusha and Dar es Salaam.

In 1989 the Band landed in London, and there changed its name to The Kilimanjaro Band. During that stay in London they released their first album 'Kata Kata.' A song from this same album 'Njenje' has since earned the Band the nickname 'Wananjenje.' In London The Kilimanjaro Band performed on the same bill with great African artists like Baaba Maal and Sam Mangwana.

1992 to 1994 saw them in Japan. This time the group was performing in top hotels as well as discos. In 1997 The Kilimanjaro Band released their second album 'Maua.' With the female voice of Nyota Waziri now adding more flavour to the album, the album went on selling well despite the rampant piracy that is affecting the music in Tanzania. Between then and 1999, the Band spent time performing in Tanzania, Muscat and Bahrain, performing in different hotels to a wide variety of audiences.

In 2000, the Band released their biggest selling album to date, 'Kinyaunyau.' The songs are a mixture of pieces of art with influences from different ethnic groups in Tanzania. It was followed in 2005 by 'Gere'. The Kilimanjaro Band has won several awards including the 2000 Best Band M Net Award and 2001 Kibo Gold Best Band award. The Band is well known for its mduara (circle) dancing style, very common to many ethnic groups in Tanzania and around Africa. A tour of the UK in July and August 2004 proved that the Band also has many fans outside Tanzania.