Beni (music)

Beni, also spelled Mbeni,[1] is an indigenized East African form of brass band music.

[4] The beni ngoma is a competitive dance genre based on a military drill performed to brass-band music.

[4][8] It is a popular form of wedding entertainment with a strong focus on rhythm and dance, and audience participation.

Beni has its origins in urban Swahili communities on the Kenyan coast in the 1890s,[9] where it came to be part of the culture of competitive associations.

[11] Prisoners of war danced it in the detention camp at Zomba in Malawi, and by detachments of the 2nd KAR when they returned to Nairobi.