Introduction

From the author of the blogspot "My Tanzanian Life", a look into the life of William Scott working as a sound engineer and co-director of The Works Limited, a recording studio in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, comes a new BLOG documenting William's insuing work in music production in the incredible country of Tanzania.

The hope of this blogspot is to highlight not only the recordings done by The Works Limited as we begin to work with local Tanzanian artist, but possibly also create a space where those working as musicians, producers, artist managers, DJ's, music presenters, can add their two cents about the growing music scene in Tanzania. Let's begin to ask some questions.

What is music? What is Tanzanian Music? What is BongoFlava? What are our musical roots? Where is music in Tanzania going? What can we do to raise the level of excellence in Tanzania? Who are the players in the Industry? What work are they doing? Are they being recognized? Why do some artists find it so hard to have their music played on the radio station? Are we going out there to find fresh new talent and styles? Has BongoFlava lived out its day? How do we take Tanzanian music/BongoFlava and make it on an international scale?

We could go on asking all manner of questions about all manner of topics relating to the music industry in Tanzania, but one question stands out in my mind. What action will we take? Tanzania is trying to move forward as a country and we see this both in the government and the decisions they are making, but also in what we call kazazi kipya, which is a swahili term for the future generation. Another term used is "the sunshine crowd." Who are these people? They are the youth of this nation and those who have been able to travel abroad to study and have no returned to Tanzania to fill needed interlectual spaces in the work force and in so doing have become very successful business men and women. But are we here for the betterment of ourselves of the country as a whole? Do we seek personal gratification and success or do we hope to see Tanzania succeed and show herself as a strong example to all those nations surrounding her borders that where a nation stands together knowing what they stand for and what they believe in, they will succeed.

Reality tells us the opposite of this fervently fought after dream, so we have to ask ourselves if at the end of the day is it all worth it. I hear endless amounts of negativity about government and leaders, traffic, bureaucracy, police men and women, petrol prices, power shortages (which have abated as of late), sickness and death. What action do WE take?

Enough complaining about the woes of our situation,
Or sitting around tables intensely deliberating,
Talking about all those things that need our attention,
Yet doing nothing about the trouble of years of built up tention.

How are artists using this message in their music? What message are they potraying? Is it true to the Tanzanian people, true to its history and culture? From today we answer these questions? And in doing so we take East Africa to the world, sharing with them our music, art, culture, dance, our stories.

Reality tells us that we will mever succeed, that the odds are staked up against us at a ratio that may never be in our favor, yet it will not be in my generation that we fail. If what I do in this life and hopefully in the part of the world through music, art, dance and theatre, is able to curb , even if for the smallest fraction of a second, the presumed failure of humankind, then the work that I do will not be invain. I am a realist who chooses to see the good.

My challange to all music makers in Tanzania and East Africa is to see the good, know the bad, and through positive assersion of your talents, to turn the bad into good.