Patrick Pama Balisidya!

Napenda tu kazi zake huyu Jamaa!

Hebu arudie:

-Malewo

Arudie pia -Wikiendi

Jikumbushe huyu Nguli,...

... kwa msaada wa-JON LUSK:

Patrick Pama Balisidya, singer and composer: born Mvumi, Tanzania 18 April 1946; married (one daughter); died Kibaha, Tanzania 7 August 2004.

The name of the singer, musician and composer Patrick Balisidya is recalled regularly in his native Tanzania, as his biggest hit "Harusi" (Kiswahili for "wedding") is played at nuptial ceremonies around the country.

Like his better known colleague, the late Hukwe Zawose, Balisidya was a member of the Gogo tribe from the poor, arid Dodoma region of inland Tanzania. The area is renowned for its wine and the Gogo people, often referred to as the "Gypsies of Tanzania", for their musical prowess - especially as singers.

After leaving school, Balisidya briefly made a living as a technician before beginning his musical career in 1967 playing guitar for the Dar es Salaam Jazz Band, one of Tanzania's most popular groups at that time. By 1970 he had formed his own group, Afro 70. While initially dependent on cover material, Balisidya soon developed a style which he dubbed "Afrosa".

Not one to follow the crowd, he shied away from the Congolese soukous sound then dominating East African music, instead drawing inspiration from the thumb piano and vocal melodies of Gogo tradition. He would sometimes translate lyrics into Kiswahili to broaden his message, and his guitar and piano playing also showed some blues influences. Refraining from political commentary, he addressed social issues and enjoyed national success with songs such as "Wikiendi" ("Weekend"), "Dirishani" ("Window") and "Tausi" ("Peacock").

At the height of his popularity in the mid-Seventies, he and Mbaraka Mwinshehe visited Japan, and he represented his country at the 1977 Festac festival in Lagos, Nigeria. He only managed this by borrowing equipment from the organisers, since a disastrous traffic accident two years before had destroyed all Afro 70's instruments, effectively causing the demise of the group.

In 1979, Balisidya and two other musicians working under the name Afro 70 visited Sweden and collaborated with the progressive rock group Archimedes Badkar on their album Bado Kidogo (Kiswahili for "Not Yet"). An early example of world music fusion, it was notable mostly for the way the headliners were relegated more or less to the role of backing band on their own recording by their African guests.

Back in Dar es Salaam the same year, Balisidiya played piano on the hit "Uniambie Siri" ("Tell Me the Secret") by Kikumbi Mwanza Mpango, aka King Kiki. It was to be his last hit, and he spent the rest of that decade earning a meagre living as a session musician for various Zairean bands resident in Tanzania. On his last album, Harusi, released earlier this year, he revisited his Seventies heyday with new versions of old hits.

Although some colleagues describe him as strict or even "prefect-like", he is remembered by fans as down-to-earth and friendly, and for his charismatic onstage manner.

Jon Lusk