African Stars (Twanga Pepeta)

The African Stars Band is based in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. Their 40 plus members have decades of experience producing popular muziki wa dansi (dance music) sounds. The African Stars Band descended from the 1980s MK Group Band, who renamed themselves as African Stars Band in 1994. However they are more commonly known across Tanzania as Twanga Pepeta for their unique and original dance style – twanga meaning 'to grind or pound' and pepeta meaning to 'sieve.'

Their albums include 'Kisa cha Mpemba' (1999), 'Jirani' (2000), 'Fainali Uzeeni' (2001), 'Chuki Binafsi' (2002), 'Ukubwa Jiwe' (2003), 'Mtu Pesa' (2004) and 'Safari' (2005). The award-winning band plays Tanzanian-styled rumba mixed with zouk, chacha, ndombolo, blues and soca, singing in Swahili, French, English, Spanish and Lingala languages.

Expect heavy electric guitars and drums with harmonious, penetrating vocals. Live, each song can last over 20 minutes and is always delivered with high powered musical agility and great dancing.