Tanzania: Sinaubi Zawose to release new project this European summer

The project is a collaboration between Sinaubi Zawose, Pamoja Zanzibar and traditional music group Zawose Family.

The recording began in January at Wanene Studios in Dar es Salaam with a live six-piece band reimagining two generations of Zawose Family recordings. The idea behind the new album is to present Sinaubi’s modern spin on traditional Gogo music ­– performed and recorded live.

After the release of the album, the group will perform in August at Boomtown Festival (UK), All About Love Festival (UK), Bezau Beatz Festival (Austria) and at a venue to be revealed in Poland.

Sinaubi is the son of Hukwe Ubi Zawose, the renowned Tanzanian musician who passed away in 2003. Sinaubi’s father, together with his brother Lucas Ubi, headed the eponymous family group famous for playing traditional Gogo music.

Sinaubi began his musical journey as a dancer and ngoma player at a young age under the tutelage of his father. In 2008, with the support of Zawose Family, he released his first album Wichimaje, a collection of traditional Tanzanian music.

In 2021, he teamed up with Radek ‘Bond’ Bednarz, a Polish musician, producer and founder of Pamoja Zanzibar, a platform aiming to deepen musical interactions in the East Africa region.

Bednarz helped organise the Pamoja Zanzibar Festival in July 2021, which brought together African and European artists. The festival provided the participating artists an opportunity to explore Zanzibar’s Swahili culture and fuse African, Arab, Asian and European musical influences.

With the new project, Sinaubi will aim aim to continue his mission of creating a bridge connecting past and present generations, delivering a new and unique blend of traditional and contemporary Gogo music and dance with powerful messages sung in Swahili and Gogo dialects. He also hopes to preserve and sustain the legacy of his family and the Gogo people.

Sinaubi has performed at Sauti za Busara festival (2021 and 2023), the Indian Ocean Music Market (2022) and ACCES (2022). He has also been recognised with a Beyond Music Award, an initiative that encourages artists from around the globe to work together.