Amanaz was a

Zamrock Zamrock is a musical genre that emerged and gained popularity in Zambia during the early 1970s. It has been described as a fusion of traditional African music and psychedelic rock, garage rock, hard rock, blues and funk, taking influence from p ...

band founded in 1973 in

Kitwe Kitwe is the third largest city in terms of infrastructure development (after Lusaka and Ndola) and second largest city in terms of size and population (after Lusaka) in Zambia. With a population of 517,543 (''2010 census provisional'') Kitwe is ...

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

. The group released their only album, the acclaimed ''Africa'', in 1975. Amanaz drew influences from American and British rock of the late 1960s–early 1970s, especially the music of

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

, and from traditional

Zambian music The music of Zambia has a rich heritage which falls roughly into categories of traditional, popular and Christian music. Traditional Music Traditional Zambian music is rooted in the beliefs and practices of Zambia's various ethnic groups an ...

, identifiable in Watson Lungu's drumming and Keith Kabwe's vocals. The band's name is the

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

of "Ask Me About Nice Artistes in Zambia". Past members include Keith Kabwe, Isaac Mpofu, John Kanyepa, Jerry Mausala and Watson Lungu.

History

In 1973, the band recorded in the Malachite Film Studios of

Chingola Chingola is a town in Zambia's Copperbelt Province, the country's copper-mining region, with a population of 256,560 (2022 census). It is the home of Nchanga Copper Mine, a deep-shaft high-grade content copper mining operation, which subsequen ...

their sole album named ''Africa.'' It was first released as a LP in 1975, and since then re-issued by the German label Shadocks Music in 2008, and by the American label

Now-Again Records Now-Again Records is a Los Angeles–based music imprint that specializes in reissues and compilations of funk, soul, and psychedelic rock from the 1960s to the 1980s. Founded in 2002 by Eothen "Egon" Alapatt as a subsidiary of Stones Throw Recor ...

in 2015. Of the 12 songs of the album, three are performed in the

Bemba language Bemba (natively known as ''Chibemba, Ichibemba'' and ''Chiwemba''), is a Bantu language spoken primarily in north-eastern Zambia by the Bemba people. History Bemba is spoken in rural and urban areas of the region, and is one of Zambia's sev ...

and the rest in English. The album continues to be influential as an embodiment of a strain of

. ''Pitchfork'' journalist Nate Patrin described it as "both behind and ahead of its era" and therefore uniquely "out of time". Music critic Mark Deming noted that Amanaz's music was based on "deep, bluesy grooves with a strong psychedelic undercurrent and thick layers of fuzz guitar". Amanaz split up in 1976. Keith Kabwe, the former band leader and main vocalist, then created the short-lived band Drive Unit the same year. By 2014, Keith Kabwe served as a

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

pastor in Mbala and was working on the release of

gospel songs Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compo ...

. Amanaz's song "Khala My Friend" has been featured in several television shows and films. In 2012, it appeared on the soundtrack of

Rick Alverson Patrick James Alverson Jr. (born June 25, 1971) is an American film director, screenwriter and musician, living in Richmond, Virginia. His films have been characterized by their confrontational nature and unconventional dramatic structure. Care ...

's " The Comedy." In 2016, the song was featured in Season 1, Episode 2 of the TBS show “

People of Earth ''People of Earth'' is an American science fiction sitcom television series created by David Jenkins about a support group for alien abductees, as well as the aliens who had abducted them. TBS ordered the pilot under the name ''The Group'' i ...

,” as well as Season 3, Episode 1 of the

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show

High Maintenance ''High Maintenance'' is an American anthology comedy-drama television and web series created by ex-husband and wife team Ben Sinclair and Katja Blichfeld. The show follows The Guy, a cannabis courier (played by Sinclair), as he delivers his p ...

. Then again in 2021, in the closing credits of Season 2, Episode 3 ("Do the Right-est Thing") of the

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription over-the-top streaming service owned by Apple. The service launched on November 1, 2019, and it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service w ...

series ''

Ted Lasso ''Ted Lasso'' ( ) is an American sports film, sports comedy-drama television series developed by Jason Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence (TV producer), Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt, and Joe Kelly. It is based on a character Sudeikis portrayed in a series ...

''. In 2023, a song from their 1975 album

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, "Nsunka Lwendo" was sampled on American Rapper

Travis Scott Jacques Bermon Webster III (born April 30, 1991), known professionally as Travis Scott (formerly stylized as Travi$ Scott), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Scott has had five number-one hits on the U.S. ''Bil ...

' song "

Sirens Siren or sirens may refer to: Common meanings * Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies * Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology that lured sailors to their deaths. Places * Si ...

" from his 2023 album

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...

Discography

* ''Africa'' (1975)

References

Zambian rock music groups Musical groups established in 1973 Musical groups disestablished in 1976 People from Kitwe Now-Again Records artists {{Zambia-stub