Zanzibara 9: Masika, Un Souffle Frais de Tanzanie (1972-74)

Following up the very different, and rather sinuous taarab music showcased on volume 8 of Buda's excellent Zanzibara series devoted to the popular musics of coastal East Africa, this volume again focuses on Tanzania, which also got good coverage on volume 7. However, while Zanzibara 7 profiled two great Tanzanian rumba bands active in the late 1980s, this offers just one from the early 70s, so you don’t get such a diversity of grooves and tunes.

Surprisingly, considering the difficulty such bands had in getting enough proper instruments at the time, Orchestra Super Volcano had a fine brass section, whose players often break free for solos, sparring with each other or the chorus singers.

The orchestra had plenty of memorable songs under the helm of bandleader Mbaraka Mwinshehe, whose story is told in the decent liner notes, which include an interview with Kulwa Salum, with whom Mwinshehe cut his musical teeth.