BIOGRAPHY OF EMANUEL NKULILA.

With an objective to promote, advance, expose and eventually change the face of music & broadcasting in Tanzania, he has dedicated his life and his music to help others and underprivileged young talents (like himself) in his homeland, to one day emerge and succeed beyond the expected level.

Born Emanuel Samuel Nkulila in the United Republic of Tanzania, Nkulila began his music career in 1984 at a local church in Dar-es-Salaam. On the theme of "We are the World" Nkulila organized his first concert to benefit the victims of famine and hunger in Ethiopia on September 7th, 1985, proving to be an entertainer, a caring person and a talented individual. He moved to Nairobi Kenya in the mid 1980's where he performed in tourist hotels with local bands.

At about the same time, Nkulila moved to the United States. At a local college in the outskirts of Los Angeles, California, Emanuel took up piano lessons as a hobby. From 1987-1997, Nkulila performed in various churches as well as performing with professional artists in Southern California. In 1988 Emanuel performed as a keyboards at the prestigious Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles with an African band playing African theme music from a major motion picture. He has been a regular at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles as well as the Grammy Awards ever since.

BIOGRAPHY OF REMMY ONGALA

Remmy Ongala and his Super Matimila Orchestra are without doubt Tanzania’s most well known band, and have performed many times in Europe and the USA. Remmy Ongala is originally from Zaire/Congo. He lost his mother when he was nine years old and had to take on the responsibility of raising his siblings. As a 17-year-old he was in a youth band, Bantu Success, as a singer and drummer. This was not popular with his family, so Remmy had to leave the band. Two years later he was again involved with music when as a guitarist he joined a few groups, among them Mickey Jazz in Zaire and Grand Mika Jazz in Uganda. In 1978 he moved to Tanzania and joined his uncle’s band, Orchestre Makassy in Dar es Salaam.
In 1981 he joined forces with Matimila, an 18-member band owned by a local businessman. Later on he formed Super Matimila and developed a style based on three guitars, bass and drum, plus saxophone. Remmy Ongala based his music on Soukous, that he proffers in a more raw version than usual, rooted as it is in local Tanzanian traditions.
He sets great store by Swahili lyrics that often have political stings against the wielders of power of all description, but he also shows a loyal defense of the common man’s condition. Because of the lyrics’ so-called healing properties he is called “The Doctor” and is an enormously popular man in the Sinza neighborhood, on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam, where he lives with his English wife, five children and a parrot. The last few years he has not been able to perform as often as before, due to his suffering from diabetes.