Juwata Jazz Band

For more than thirty-five years the Juwata Jazz Band has exerted a powerful influence across East Africa through its hard-driving, brass-heavy sound. Established with the support of the National Workers' Union and backed by government funding from Tanzania, the ensemble has sustained its appeal by delivering bold, spontaneous improvisations to appreciative crowds. Over time the group has operated under several different names. It began as the NUTA Jazz Band, then adopted the Juwata Jazz Band designation in 1977 once Muhiddin Maalim, Abel Balthazar, and Hassani Bitchuka departed to establish Dar International, which later evolved into Mlimani Park. Following the National Workers' Union's reorganization into the Organization of Tanzanian Trade Unions, the ensemble's title shifted again to OTTU Jazz Band. Direction of the group has likewise passed through different hands. Saidi Mabera, the solo guitarist and composer who entered the lineup in 1973, guided its activities during the 1980s until Maalim returned in 1991, accompanied once more by Bitchuka, and assumed leadership. Additional key figures include trumpet player and vocalist Joseph Lusungu, saxophonist Mnenge Ramadhani, who came aboard in 1966, and Moshi Williams, who contributes lyrics, vocals, second guitar, and bass. Although Tanzania maintains only a modest recording sector, the Juwata Jazz Band belongs to the many ensembles that capture new material once or twice annually in the studios of Radio Tanzania Dar Es Salaam (RTD).