Flowing polyrhythms and the rapturous polyphonic singing of the Gogo people (also known as Wagogo) from central Tanzania: this is the music of Pendo and Leah Zawose, better known as The Zawose Queens. The most famous representative of this musical tradition is Hukwe Zawose (Pendo's father and Leah's grandfather), who died in 2004. With Maisha, their highly acclaimed debut album, women from this famous musical family take their place as lead singers and interpreters for the first time.
There is spirit and fire in their music. There are the vibrations of the ancestors that can be heard on traditional instruments - the soaring chizeze fiddle, the humming thumb piano, the clattering ngoma drums - and the voices. There is a connection to nature and rituals; a mixture of the organic, the harmonic and modern electronics. The lyrics, in their mother tongue Kigogo, tell of their passion for music, of the wonders of life, of pride in the environment, in tradition and their East African roots.