The brainchild of brothers Wilson and George Peter Kinyonga, Simba Wanyika and its two offshoots, Les Wanyika and Super Wanyika, became some of the most popular bands in Kenya. Their music, which combined highly melodic East African rumba with lyrics sung in Swahili ("Simba Wanyika" means "Lions of the Savannah" in Swahili), helped to give Kenya its own musical identity, which an appreciative public eagerly consumed.

Before restrictions were placed on the border between Tanzania and Kenya, musicians could travel between the two countries at will. Most of the crossing, however, was into Tanzania; rumba was already popular there, and bands could receive state or corporate sponsorship from Radio Tanzania. The Kinyonga brothers bucked this trend. They began in their hometown Tanga, Tanzania with the band Jamhuri Jazz, which lasted from 1966 to '70. Disappointed with the lack of musical experimentation there, Wilson and George Peter made the journey to Kenya in 1971 and created Simba Wanyika in the capital city of Nairobi. Inspired early on by guitar giant Dr. Nico, Wilson fronted a rich, guitar-driven sound, blending the spare instrumentation of '70s rumba-rock with the gentle rhythms and fullness of older rumba, and warm Swahili vocals.

However, the newly-formed band faced tremendous financial obstacles in Kenya. The unstable laissez-faire economy made for a tenuous relationship between the government and artists. The work permit laws for musicians were restrictive at best, and for foreign musicians they were especially suffocating. But the band kept playing at nightclubs and bars in the Nairobi area, and they developed an enthusiastic following. Their financial system might have been grave, but musically, the band was quickly coalescing into a tight, focused melodic unit, and by the mid-70's, Simba Wanyika were well-known throughout Kenya, thanks to hits like "Mwongele," a song about a man losing his lover due to his failing to provide for her, and "Wana Wanyika," a tune that reminds people that "there is no difference between black and white." Playing rumba with lyrics sung in Swahili wasn't especially new--bands had been doing that in Tanzania for years--but the brothers Kinyonga had a unique approach to traditional rumba. Theirs was a music of subtlety, of craft: whereas many other Kenyan guitar bands of the era were simply trying to get people out of their chairs and dancing, Simba Wanyika aimed for a higher, more melodic ground. Their scattered snare beats and shuffling high-hat rhythms created an irresistible dancing rhythm, but they also served as a springboard for the delicately beautiful guitar riffs and warmly funky basslines.

By 1977, restrictions were once again enforced on the Kenya-Tanzania border. Consequently, Kenyan music, already diverging from its Tanzanian roots, cleaved almost completely from its musical ancestors, with only the basic rumba rhythm remaining. The rest of the Kenyan scene slowly began to turn towards the emerging "benga" sound, with its more complicated basslines and aggressive guitar interplay.

Meanwhile, Simba Wanyika was staying the course with rumba, and was still quite popular when it decided to split, forming a spin-off band called Les Wanyika. It too played rumba music along the lines of its predecessor. A short time later, the Kinyonga brothers dabbled in benga with yet another spin-off project, Super Wanyika, which was also known as Wanyika Stars and Wanyika. The 80's saw the dissolution of Super Wanyika. The brothers split up briefly, but soon rejoined to top the charts again with "Shilingi," selling nearly 50,000 legal copies as Les Wanyika. Meanwhile, Simba Wanyika earned burgeoning popularity in Europe. This acceptance led to the European release of "Pepea" (Kameleon), a history of the band's music from 1971 to 1991. In 1992, on their 20th anniversary, Simba recorded their first CD, Pepea, which served as an international calling card when they became one of the few Kenyan bands to tour in Europe. Sadly, George Peter died of tuberculosis at 42 before the year was out. The band continued to make music until Wilson's death, the event that officially closed the book on the lions of the Savannah.

Contributed by: Matt Ozga