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Assembly

Dr Hukwe Zawose and Michael Brook

Tanzania had a made-to-measure musical ambassador in the person of Dr Hukwe Zawose: educator, instrument builder, cultural conservationist and - most importantly - a charismatic singer and musician of singular abilities who introduced the music of his people (the Wagogo, of central Tanzania's arid Dodoma region) to an international audience. Despite two decades of concert performances around the world, Hukwe remained an enthusiasm shared mostly by the inner circle of world music aficionados.

Peter Gabriel, founder of Real World Records, is a Hukwe fan of long standing who felt the time was nigh for Dr Zawose's sound to reach a larger audience. With this goal in mind, he tapped the Canadian producer/instrumentalist Michael Brook to collaborate with Hukwe. The project would build upon traditional Tanzanian music and Hukwe's unique talents with arrangements and textures that could prove enticing to a broader spectrum of listeners. Assembly is the product of this collaboration.

Assembly at realworldrecords.com