Mbaraka Mwinshehe

The death of Tanzanian guitarist/bandleader Mbaraka Mwinshehe, following an automobile accident in 1979, resulted in the loss of one of the spearheads of East African dance music. Having established his reputation as a member of Morogoro Jazz, between 1964 and 1973, Mwinshehe continued to make his influence felt as the leader of his own band, Super Volcano, from 1973 until his untimely death six years later. A self-taught guitarist, Mwinshehe played kwela music with Cuban Branch Jazz as a teenager. Studying singing with Salim Abdullah, a founding member of Morogoro Jazz who...