Jamhuri Jazz Band was a dance band founded as the Nyamwezi Jazz Band in the late 1950s in

Tanga, Tanzania Tanga (''Jiji la Tanga'', in Swahili language, Swahili) is a historic city and the capital of Tanga Region. The city is located in the northern port city of Tanzania to the west of the Indian Ocean on Tanga Bay. The city had a population of 393,42 ...

, when the country was known as Tanganyika. At the time dance bands were known as "jazz bands" in East Africa, even if they did not play jazz music. It was renamed the Jamhuri Jazz Band in 1966 on the orders of the government of Tanzania because of the tribalism indicated by the word "

Nyamwezi Nyamwezi may refer to: * Nyamwezi people, of Tanzania * Nyamwezi language Nyamwezi is a major Bantu language of central Tanzania. It forms a dialect continuum A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of Variety (linguistics), langu ...

". It gained nationwide popularity. Jamhuri Jazz played a key role in the spread of the

Congolese rumba Congolese rumba, also known as African rumba, is a dance music genre originating from the Republic of the Congo (formerly French Congo) and Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire). With its rhythms, melodies, and lyrics, Congolese ru ...

sound throughout East Africa in the early seventies. Wilson Kinyonga and George Kinyonga joined the band in 1966 and played with it for the next four years before leaving in December 1970 to form Arusha Jazz Band and later Simba Wanyika, one of the most influential music groups in East Africa. Jamhuri Jazz Band started as Young Nyamwezi Jazz Band and was financed and managed by Joseph Bagabuje and recruited John Kijiko.

References

Tanzanian musical groups 1950s establishments in Tanganyika Soukous groups {{Tanzania-stub