Search - Tanzania :: Tanzania: Art of Hukwe Ubi Zawose

As much as the content, it's the ambience of Zawose's music that gets you. It moves unhurriedly, lulling in the sound of the ilimba (thumb piano) and izeze (fiddle). But once his voice (and those of Dickson L. Mkwama and Lubeleje M. Chiute, who accompany him here) enters, you're completely transported. You don't know what he's singing about, but you are there with him, as the birds' wings sound in the trees, and the leaves rustle in the forest. Good music should take you to another time and place, and by the time this is over, you feel as if you know Tanzania in your blood, its heartbeats, its traditions, and lore. And you can't ask for more from music than that. --Chris Nickson