Tanzanian musicians Emmanuel Mnguto and Daniel Mgunga say it's
tough getting by in China without being able to speak Mandarin.
But the keyboard and percussion team of Zigua tribesmen insist
they still communicate a great deal with the members of their host
country.
"Music is a worldwide, international language," vocalist and
percussionist Mnguto says.
The pair, who are known as The Jambo Duo - "Jambo" is a Swahili
greeting - onstage, hope to tune in to the realities of a changing
China while bringing their special brand of Tanzanian musicality to
Beijing.
"When we perform our music onstage, the people are so happy,
because they get to hear a new tune from Africa," Mnguto says.
"They get to hear a new tune, a new tone and a new rhythm. It gives
them morale, and they clap their hands."
The duo recalls that one Chinese audience member was so enthused
by their music that he grabbed a bottle and stormed the stage
during their set to insist the Duo drink wine with him.
"We could see the music moved him," Mnguto says with a laugh.
"But it was hard for me to drink and play at the same time."
Although they come from the same tribe - among the more than 120
in Tanzania - Mnguto and Mgunga met in Kenya, and started
performing together at five-star hotels in Nairobi in 1994.
Tanzanian duo Emmanuel
Mnguto (right) and Daniel Mgunga are happy to bring African music
to Chinese audiences.
It was a chance encounter with a sequel that later brought the
Duo to Beijing. In 2003, they were performing at The Village Market
Food Court in Nairobi, Kenya, a place known for offering
international cuisines, including Chinese meals. There, a Chinese
embassy staffer, who identified himself as Mr Xu, asked to snap a
photo with them.
Mnguto and Mgunga didn't think anything of it until an
incredible coincidence occurred four years later, when they again
crossed paths with Francois Xu.
"After we finished performing that day, he asked: 'Do you
remember me?' and I said: 'No, I don't remember you'," Mnguto
recalls. "Then he produced the picture he took with us, and I
remembered."
It was by chance that Xu had returned to visit Nairobi and had
stumbled upon the Jambo Duo again with the snapshot he'd taken with
the band in hand.
He asked them if they were interested in playing in China.
"We'd heard of China; we'd read about it in books, so we said,
'let's go to China and see how it is'."
Since last October, the Duo has performed in the capital's only
African restaurant, Pili Pili, starting from 7:30 pm daily except
Mondays.
"In Kenya, we played in the five-star hotels to earn our daily
bread. When you do it in a different country, you know you are
doing something better," Mnguto says.
One of the advantages of performing in Beijing, they say, is
that playing for such an international crowd has expanded their
repertoire.
"We do the African music, but we can't do it all around, because
that would be boring. We have to check the crowd," Mnguto says.
"If we see an American in the crowd, we'll play a jazz song,
like one by Nat King Cole. If we see a Spanish person in the crowd,
we'll play a Spanish-sounding song; if we see an Arabian guy, we'll
play something that sounds like Arabian music."
However, Chinese music has proven more challenging for them.
"We are trying to get more Chinese songs, but the language is
sometimes so different, but we do our best," Mgunga says. So far,
he has learned how to play Ceng Jing De Ni, a pop ballad about
forlorn love by mainland heartthrob Xu Wei.
"Even though we don't understand the Chinese, we get the melody
of the song, because it's a sad song, and it's tuneful like an
African song," Mnguto says.
But outside of music, the band has yet to find time to do much
exploring of their new surroundings. Besides a daytrip to
Tian'anmen, they've spent nearly all of their free time in China
rehearsing or scouring the city for venues to perform.
"So far, we're strangers here. The people here are so friendly,
apart from the problem of language. They respect foreigners,"
Mnguto says.
But the pair agrees that upon coming to China, they found they
felt less like foreigners than they had expected.
"The culture here is slightly the same (as Tanzania's)," Mnguto
says. He explains that many Tanzanians are familiar with Chinese
culture, because many Chinese came to their homeland to work on a
railway to Zambia.
Now, the Duo hopes Chinese can come to their performances to
gain exposure to Tanzanian culture.
"We hope they come to listen to our African music. It's good for
the mind and will broaden you. If you have stress, come here and
dance; don't only sit and listen," Mnguto says.
(China Daily January 18, 2008)
