The Legacy of Tanzanian Musicians

An ethnomusicological dual biography by Frank Gunderson of Muhidin Gurumo and Hassan Bitchuka, two of Tanzania’s most well-known singers in the popular music genre muziki wa dansi, a variation of the Cuban-based rumba idiom impactful throughout Central, Eastern, and Western Africa. They worked together as partners for thirty years from 1973 to 2003. The book investigates their lives and careers from an ethnomusicological and historical perspective, shining light on their creative processes, their choices regarding rare resources, and their own memories of the musical art they created during colonial rule, post-independence, and the contemporary neoliberal milieu. Praised by Damascus Kafumbe (Middlebury College), Austin C. Okigbo (University of Colorado Boulder), and Gregory Barz (Vanderbilt University), the book firmly situates musical biography in the centre of the ethnomusicological canon. Frank Gunderson is associate professor of ethnomusicology at Florida State University. Subtitle: Rumba Kiserebuka!