LIVE MUSIC: BENGA vs BONGO

It is time to showcase the beauty of Kenyan music – Bongo and Tanzanian music Bongo for the first time in East Africa. On Friday 28th January 2011 roads head to the Goethe Institut Auditorium http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=184369098249281 on the

corner of Loita and Monrovia Street in Nairobi.  The agenda will be to dance your night away to the beautiful live tunes of Kenya and Tanzania so prepare yourself physically. Bongo has been known to get people hooked to the dance floor while Bongo has been known to keep couples stuck on each other forever. The choice is yours.

East African music has undergone tremendous transformation. Coming from an era when music was a mere spectacle to an era when music is a legitimate vocation, a sense of purpose and more importantly a vehicle through which vital messages are dispersed to the general society. The region has many music genres such as Kadongo Kamu, Genge, Taarab, Utake, Luga Flow, Kapuka, Mugithi but Benga in Kenya and Bongo in Tanzania are the ones that have surpassed all of them in terms of popularity and relevance. These genres carry the pulse of this whole region.  www.ingoma.co.ke

In Kenya, a generational music form called Benga has taken to the airwaves by storm producing some of the most memorable music material ever. This vast genre is spearheaded its top aficionado; The Crown Prince of Benga - Dan ‘Chizi’ Aceda http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=34042589814 who not only thinks, eats and talks Benga but believes that the whole world’s music evolved from it.  Dan ‘Chizi’ Aceda is a special artist, an extraordinary songwriter and an amazing performer who give you tunes that make you feel Kenya from the east to the West.

Tanzania the nation of brotherly love is usually known as Bongo and its people’s preferred genre of music is Bongo Flava. The talent in Bongo Flava is immense but the and Danish artist Mzungu Kichaa http://www.facebook.com/MzunguKichaa who resides in Tanzania and has been at the forefront of this genre ever since its beginnings. He has been in Tanzania so long he is one of the most prominent names in the music business there. He stage performances are memorable and an awesome experience for first timers.  

By Moses Mbasu