7 minute read
Strong Sisters Spread Their Musical Message
Bahati Band are an all-women music group in Dar es Salaam breaking down the barriers of the music industry boys’ club. They play their own instruments, write songs that touch souls and are inspiring women to find their voices and pursue their music dreams.
Live act – Bahati Band on stage at Nafasi Arts Space in Dar es Salaam As the only all-women music group to play their own instruments and write their own songs in Tanzania, Bahati Band are gamechangers. The six-piece band have been together barely a year, but with their joyous mix of afro-fusion, r&b and reggae they have already proved they should be taken as seriously as their male counterparts and have become a popular booking on the Dar es Salaam live music scene.
Band members Dorice George, who plays bass, saxophonist Gloria Samson, pianist Alice Nyato, singers Neema Mwasha and Merry Mshana, percussionist Britenia Richard, Mariam Namuyodi on drums and Nipael Mtana on keyboards were among the most impressive candidates who answered a call put out in January 2020 by Pili Maguzo, the founder of performance art theatre Bahati Art Group, for talented musicians to form an all-women musical group.
The band continued the Bahati name, which means ‘luck’ in Swahili, and Mtana says the word seems apt as each musician feels blessed by their abilities and the reception the band has enjoyed from the public.
“We felt lucky that each one of us has a special talent in music,” she says. “From the first day we formed a bond and fell in love with each other. Society also accepted us and gave us a chance to show what we have. The love and invitations we have received so far has been amazing.”
Nafasi Arts Space gave the band rehearsal space and its first live show in September when they were among the featured acts at the Dar creative hub’s showcase of visual and performing arts Wikiendi Live – Pamoja Tena. Bahati Band were a huge hit and the show is still strong in Mtana’s memory. “We were the only women performing that day and the audience loved us so much.”
Bahati Band members, including keyboard player Nipael Mtana
on stage and in rehearsals
Plenty more shows have followed, including a regular Friday night gig at lively Oyster Bay restaurant, bar and guest house Triniti. As Mtana intimates, the success of the band has been as surprising as it is welcome. Tanzania has plenty of very visible female singing stars, Vanessa Mdee, Zuchu and Lady Jaydee among them, but Bahati Band presents a previously unseen level of female autonomy with women making all the music and calling the shots behind the scenes. The strong dadas of the band share a sistership that extends to their band’s manager, the dancer and gender equality campaigner Irene Themistocles, who is instrumental in securing their busy calendar of live shows. When seeking gigs she has come up against those that believe the role of women in a band is just to sing and who want to pay less to book Bahati because they are an allwomen group.
Its entrenched beliefs such as these that Maguzo – who attended Dar dance centre Muda Africa and often performs with Bahati alongside fellow dancer Lilian for unforgettable live shows – wanted to counter in her vision for the band.
Bahati Band has shown support for events in Dar that promote gender equality, such as December’s Women, Talents, Empowerment at Alliance Française, where they put on another show-stopping performance, which Mtana says she “loved every beat of”.
The keyboard player is naturally creative. Her skills as a pianist have led her being nominated this year for an award of recognition from African Art Music TV. She is also a talented gospel singer and designs and sells her own jewellery under her brand Nipa Accessories – but she hopes the band is an inspiration to all women in the audience, who get to see what can come of pursuing a creative purpose. There is even the possibility of becoming a Bahati Band member themselves.
“When we started playing together, not all of us were that good. We had to practice so hard to improve, form a good bond and be able to meet people’s expectations. “We encourage other girls who can play instruments and sing to join the band. Even those who are still not good in music but finds interest can join us and learn. There is a big population in the country with no employment so instead of staying idle it’s better to learn new stuff or use your talent to employ yourself. Before I was playing piano just for myself at home, but now I play in the band and earn some money.”
As well as the welcome income, Mtana – who started playing keyboards three years ago – finds she can channel her emotions, both good and bad, into her music. Bahati Band play with a smile on their faces and Mtana puts it down to the joyful escape of making music.
“Playing piano makes me feel special and it relaxes my mind,” she says. “When I play, I feel like I’m in another world, it takes away all the sadness and anger.”
Those negative emotions can arrive. Mtana has used a wheelchair since the age of nine when a mystery condition struck and left her unable to walk. The option of surgery to help Mtana walk again was offered but it also carried a 40 per cent risk of her dying on the operating table. “My parents were scared so they refused,” she says.
Mtana says she has not let it define or restrict her, but it does present challenges. To travel any distance requires taking a taxi or bajaj. “I don’t earn enough to afford that,” she says, “and not all of the drivers are capable of carrying me so they refuse the ride.”
Music offers a chance to channel this hurt. When Bahati started out they mostly performed covers of their favourite songs, but now there is a good number of band-written
tracks among the set-list and they are not afraid to dig deep when it comes to the lyrical content.
Songwriting skills
The song ‘Subira’ calls for patience and trust in pursuing goals and to not get disheartened when success is not immediate. ‘Uze’ is sung in the character of a woman who is introducing her lover to her family for the first time while ‘Dunia’ berates the loss of national identity that comes from people overvaluing influences from abroad.
Being able to craft their own music has helped the band be taken seriously and the next step is to get some of these tracks recorded and released for people to enjoy. Mtana says there are plans for the band to get some studio time in the near future and for more live shows to support the recorded work.
“We are practicing to make sure the new shows are our best yet.”
To keep up to date with upcoming live performances and the latest Bahati Band news, visit the Instagram page @bahati_female_band
Bahati Band have recorded an affecting tribute song, complete with video, to the late President John Pombe Magufuil. Watch it on YouTube.
Tanzania Women Jazz Band
Bahati Band may currently be the only all-women music group in Tanzania, but they are not the first. For that, you have to go back to 1965 and the Tanzania Women Jazz Band. This group began as the Police Jazz Band and was made up of young women turned from complete novices by the force’s head of music activities, the talented musician Mzee Mayaglio, into a jazz band so esteemed it toured across Tanzania and into Kenya. In 1966 the 15-strong band recorded six songs at Radio Tanzania Dar es Salaam (RTD) Studios, a venue which became crucial in nurturing the country’s music scene in the early years of independence. A tour of China was supposed to be next, but the band split up before this could happen, with members complaining they did not get a share of the revenue created by the venture.
Pioneers – the Tanzania Women Jazz band
