- country:Tanzania
- region:East Africa
- style(s):Afro, Rumba
- label:Jahazi Media
- gender:male
- instrumentation:instrumental, vocal
- artist posted by:Jahazi Media
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33 years into their life Mlimani Park Orchestra are still the leading exponents of Tanzanian muziki wa dansi. The band set out with a bang in 1978 when some of the principal musicians of leading bands like the Nuta Jazz and Dar es Salaam Jazz Bands got together to form the new house band of the Mlimani Park Bar hence the group’s name. The band was first managed by the Tanzania Transport & Taxi Services, owners of the bar at the foot of Dar’s University Hill. It was changed to DDC Mlimani Park Orchestra when bar and band were taken over by the Dar es Salaam Development Corporation (DDC) a wing of Dar city council. We have to remember that we were still in Ujamaa, African socialist times, hence the basic modus operandus of most musical groups (and society in general) as part of state or para-statal organizations. With changing times and the move towards a more liberal political and economic order, Mlimani Park and its musicians finally became an independent organization in 2009.
