Hukwe Zawose

Hukwe Ubi Zawose (* 1940 in Bugiri in the British-occupied colony of Tanganyika (later Tanzania ), † 30 December 2003) was a traditional African musicians.

Zawose had four wives and 15 children. He belonged to the people of the Wagogo from the Dodoma region and was born into a family of artists, in the generations since the traditional music of Wagogo was inherited. His father Ubi Zawose, who still lives in Bagamoyo with more than 100 years, is a true master instrumentalist and a famous traditional healer.

Hukwe Zawose herded the cows as a child of the family, and like all other Wagogo sang Hukwe working in the fields. His voice was different from the others early in the fields, she was a loud, deep passionate call with an immense vocal range.

As the Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere Zawose convened in the capital Dar es Salaam to Bagamoyo and later at the local College of Arts, his fame quickly spread throughout the country and across national borders.

In the 1970s and 1980s Zawose toured with his band and their elaborate masks and costumes the whole country. In 1996 the first Zawose album " Chibite " (Real World) in the U.S., a mixture of Zawoses own songs and traditional compositions.

The famous British musician Peter Gabriel called Zawose in interviews as "one of the most important traditional artists in the world " and released on his label Real World numerous solo and sampler CDs with pieces of Zawose.

With the National Ensemble of Tanzania, the Bagamoyo Players, Zawose including Japan, Australia, the People 's Republic of China, the USA, England, France, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Austria, Spain and Germany occurred. Between 1996 and 2000 he took part in various countries, seven of the major WOMAD world music festivals.

As a "Master Musician" taught Zawose many years students at Ilimba and Zeze instruments, in the last years of his life he also appeared as a healer of mental illnesses. At the same time he became involved in the fight against AIDS and worked together with artists such as Papa Wemba and Youssou N'Dour at a great African music AIDS project in favor of Freddie Mercury Foundation.

For his life's work, the charismatic musician was in 1998 awarded the first honorary doctorate from the State Academy of Music, Sibelius Academy, he also received in 2002 the " Zeze Award ", the highest cultural award of Tanzania.

Dr. Zawose died on 30 December 2003 after a long illness.