The Zawose Queens

Bringing a fresh take on their traditional music, The Zawose Queens are challenging a long-established form in vital ways by incorporating new influences and altering the role of women artists.

The music of the Wagogo or Gogo people of central Tanzania is percussion-driven with gorgeous vocal polyphonies, featuring traditional instruments like thumb piano (illimba) that are often homemade. Pendo and Leah Zawose come from a dynasty of Gogo musicians. Pendo’s father was Hukwe Zawose, an internationally known musician who recorded for Real World Records and made WOMAD appearances. Pendo joined her dad’s band when she was 14 but as a woman she was not permitted to sing lead vocals or play certain instruments. Now, with The Zawose Queens, she and her niece Leah are front and centre, showing generations–young and old–that women can be lead contributors in Gogo music.

“The women were always in the background,” Pendo says. “We would travel and perform with family members but the women have always been sidelined. This is an opportunity to be at the forefront, prove myself, and shine.”

The Guardian wrote of the Queens and this historic shift: “The sheer vocal power of the duo is arresting, a shifting polyphony primarily addressing family and domestic affairs; this is the first time women in Gogo music have been allowed to write their own stories.”

– EM