Zawose Family Theatre - The Building Begins
The Zawose Theatre in the town of Bagamoyo in Tanzania was a vital focus and centre for the cultural life of the town. It was devastated by fire some years ago but now, finally ,construction to rebuild this hub of music and dance began last week! John Simpson who has worked with the Zawose family for many years travelled out from London to help get the process going. He was able to take with him significant funds from Real World royalty payments due to the Zawose family following the death of the great Hukwe and his young nephew Charles. Here is John's latest report and pictures:
Consulting local builders and the family we managed to settle for the attached plans. A large Makute roof with a stage, workshop and rehearsal space - very simple but if you know how these roofs look it will be quite spectacular. The construction will be done in two phases. The first being until I leave on the 7th July when the frame will be built for the roof and the decking and concrete foundations for the stage as well as digging a trench and laying the electrical cable. In September in the second and final stage we will roof the structure with the Makute (traditional thatch roof), finish the staging and carve the wooden trunk's that hold the structure up.
On Sunday 24th May we had a 'breaking the ground ceremony'. We invited another two music groups from the village 'Chiivane' and 'Gendaeka band' to play sets on the plot where the theatre will be. After the performances representatives of the family (Julius, Esteli, Sara, Simon, Msafiri and Ndahani) each shoveled dirt into the air to break the ground. After this we then cooked two goats and drank 120 sodas and 30 beers beside the bonfire as Chiivane played into the night. Photos to follow...
On Monday a flat-bed truck arrived in Bagamoyo with tonnes of wood (about a third of the total needed just for the structure). We got the wood from a governement wood store in Dar which means it is supposed to be from sustainably cut forests, they even provided a certificate so lets hope that is true. We have employed a Masai security guard to ensure nobody steals from the site during the construction. The workers are now busy each morning digging the foundations and we are confident that the first trunks of wood will be slotted into the ground today or tomorrow, changing the Zawoses plot of land for good. Some of the Zawoses are helping with the builders and the girls are cooking breakfast and lunch for everyone to keep them going."
The wonderful documentary film made by John Simpson is now showing on Link TV in the USA this month
Foxlight
For his third solo album - Foxlight - the acclaimed singer Iarla O Lionaird delivers an impassioned and sublime set of personal songs, combining the twin urges to write more new material and yet also work with an intriguing set of collaborators.
In Trance
If JuJu's chemistry was evident on their acclaimed 2007 debut Soul Science and its equally praised follow up Tell No Lies, it is almost palpable here. In Trance is precisely that: an album that sees Adams' Les Paul goldtop vying and blending with Camara's keening bittersweet vocals and fiery ritti playing, and embracing dub reggae and avant-garde jazz en route.
Addis Through The Looking Glass
"The aim", says Nick Page, the musician and producer best-known as Dubulah, also founding member of Transglobal Underground and Syriana, "is to constantly surprise." The new Dub Colossus album, Addis Through The Looking Glass, does just that. It's a new departure in the band's remarkable history. Dubulah first travelled to Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa in 2006 to collaborate with musicians and explore traditional Azmari styles, 60s Ethiopian pop, Ethiojazz and 70s Jamaican Dub Reggae.
Laru Beya
Encouraged by a songwriter mother with a gorgeous voice and by his widely admired local troubadour father, the young Aurelio made his own guitars from cans and fishing line. Music and songs were the only entertainment in a place with no electricity and little contact with the outside world, and it is these songs that shaped him as an artist and inspired the pieces on Laru Beya.
Tande-La
The Creole Choir of Cuba are called 'Desandann' in their home country which means 'descendants' and with the songs on their forthcoming album 'Tande-La' (a title which translates as 'listen') they tell the stories of their Haitian ancestors who were brought to Cuba to work in near slave conditions on the sugar and coffee plantations.
The Road To Damascus
"The Cold War and its iconography had divided East and West," says Page. "We decided to create a project that would bridge them."
Capture
Afro Celt Sound System are back - right now - with Capture, a career-spanning double CD that cherry-picks from the collective's five acclaimed studio albums and divides the glittering proceeds into songs (Verse) and instrumentals (Chorus). Here, then, are the classics that forged the group's reputation
Bought For A Dollar, Sold For A Dime
The musical melting pot of 'Bought For A Dollar, Sold for a Dime' is large, and bubbling. Here are addictive rhythms. Soulful vocals. Pinches of dub and funk, reggae and gospel. Oh-so-subtle samples and innovative electronics. And underpinning it all, McDonald's shimmering blues guitar licks, conjuring a space where the dirt roads of the Deep South meet the shiny lanes of the Information Superhighway.
Connect with us: