Botswana my home country, is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. Its landscape is defined by the Kalahari Desert and the Okavango Delta which is one of the seven natural wonders of Africa. The country shares borders with Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa. It was colonized by the British in 1885 when it was called Bechuanaland and declared it a protectorate. The country gained its Independence on 30 th September 1966. Botswana’s culture is best expressed with traditional music and dance. The country has different ethnic groups which express their culture through traditional music through singing accompanied by clapping hands with a nice and complicated rhythmic dance patterns. Folk music in many cases is accompanied by traditional instruments such as Segaba/Segankure (kind of bowed string instrument), Phala (kind of whistle instrument) and Moropa (kind of drum).

Popular and modern music today in Botswana are strongly influenced by these folk music although it is mainly mixed with western instruments. Bojazz is also influenced by traditional Botswana music and other types of traditional and western music I enjoyed listening to since childhood. I also had the opportunity of visiting other countries including Swaziland, Namibia, United Kingdom, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe which also exposed me to their music.

Fortunately, my father was an ardent music lover with a large collection of vinyl records with different types of African and Western music. That’s how I was introduced to different genres including Rock and roll, Mbaqanga, Marabi and Kwela music from South Africa, Jazz, Soukous and other types of African music. Also while studying in the United Kingdom many years ago, I met and played with musicians and artists from different parts of the world. These include Australia, Britain, Gabon, Madagascar, Mozambique, South Africa, the Netherlands and Zimbabwe.