Orchestra Makassy was formed in Uganda by Mzee Makassy and a number of Ugandan and Zairian musicians. In 1975 they were left Uganda for Tanzania and took up residency at the New Africa Hotel in Dar-es-Salaam.
In Dar Es Salaam during the 1970s the most popular bands were formed by Zairean musicians who sang originally in Lingala, and later modified the music to fit the
inflexion of the Kiswahili language. Orginally perfoming as a solo artiste at the New Africa Hotel, Mose Se Fan Fan went on to join Orchestre Makassy, with whom the first four tracks were recorded. The song "Chama Cha Mapinduzi," in praise of the Tanzanian independence party, had lyrics based on the words of the country's first president, Julius Nyrere.
The next four songs on the first session were issued as singles in East Africa and collected on the Greatest Hits LP. Most of these were updated in the studio and re-recorded for the Agwaya sessions done in Nairobi. The combination of their musicianship and the minimalistic production of Norman Mighell, who recorded them in 1982, produced what many regard one of the finest moments of East African rumba. (--Matt Temple)
Peter toll adds: As for Orch. Makassy, they were not based in Kenya but in Tanzania. When Makassy left for Nairobi to record "Agwaya" (1982), the band was already falling apart. Remmy Ongala stayed behind in Tanzania where he joined Super Matimila while Fan Fan Mosese quit Makassy in Kenya to start another Somo Somo band. The Makassy that produced AGWAYA had really only been playing together for three years or so.
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