Live from Dar es Salaam: Popular Music and Tanzania's Music Economy (African Expressive Cultures) - Tapa dura

Scholars interested in the popular music of urban Africa will welcome Alex Perullo's Live from Dar es Salaam enthusiastically. Perullo's comprehensive examination of a city's musical life is lively and compelling, and readers will be impressed by the breadth and depth of the author's description and analysis. * Ethnomusicology Forum * The book displays the author's encyclopedic and deep knowledge of Tanzania's music economy. It contains rich ethnographic descriptions and persuasive arguments, and would be valuable to anyone interested in the contemporary music scene in Tanzania. * African Studies Review * Alex Perullo has written an ethnography that is as comprehensive as it is enjoyable to read. * Africa * Alex Perullo focuses on the creative practices Tanzanians in the music economy in Dar es Salaam utilize as they try to make something of a living in difficult economic times. Perullo also shows how music in Tanzania transitioned from work to a commodity as the country itself moved from a socialist to a capitalist political-economic ideology. * American Ethnologist * Live from Dar es Salaam . . . takes on the challenge of examining Tanzania's popular music in the context of that country's shift toward capitalism. The book offers insights into the multi-sided challenges of neoliberal globalisation, and opens new avenues for thinking about the often-imbalanced demands neoliberal globalisation places on African musicians. * Popular Music * The case [Perullo] makes for Tansania's music economy as one of the most thriving in Africa . . . and an example of Africans making things happen for themselves, is well documented and convincing. . . . Through Perullo, we are given a unique insight into the manifold uses of art and artifice by which people shape their own lives in an African city today. * Tanzanian Affairs *

When socialism collapsed in Tanzania, the government-controlled music industry gave way to a vibrant independent music scene. Alex Perullo explores the world of the bands, music distributors, managers, and clubs that attest to the lively and creative music industry in Dar es Salaam. Perullo examines the formation of the city's music economy, considering the means of musical production, distribution, protection, broadcasting, and performance. He exposes both legal and illegal strategies for creating business opportunities employed by entrepreneurs who battle government restrictions and give flight to their musical aspirations. This is a singular look at the complex music landscape in one of Africa's most dynamic cities.