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Timeline
8 events▣ Album 6◆ Formed 1★ Debut release 1
1980s
· Debut release
Debut release: Tananas
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
1990s
Biography
English biography266 words · 3 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1356623034
Biography
Tananas (pronounced tuh-naa-nuhs) is a South African band formed in 1987. Originally it consisted of Gito Baloi (bass and vocals), Ian Herman (drums and percussion) and Steve Newman (acoustic guitar). First recorded by the independent label Shifty Records, Tananas combined jazz, Mozambican salsa and township jive (or mbaqanga). They released eight albums, the last two on the Sony label.
Tananas built a loyal following in their home country from the late 1980s, and performed at WOMAD festivals around the world. They worked individually or as a band with Paul Simon and Sting, and shared stages with the likes of Bonnie Raitt, Suzanne Vega and Youssou N'dour.
The band broke up in 1993 but reunited for some performances until Gito was shot dead in Johannesburg on April 4, 2004 while on his way home from a concert in Pretoria. He was 39 years old.
Musical style
Tananas were originally an essentially instrumental band allied to jazz but including folk elements and an unmistakably African set of sounds. The group's latter stage recordings included more vocals by singer and bass player Gito Baloi, who sang in Tsonga and Portuguese. At first glance, their music cannot be identified as typically South African, as they experimented with a wide variety of styles and merged them into their own unique blend. Tananas released their first self-titled album in 1988 on Shifty Records. The album mixed different styles such as jazz, Mozambican salsa and township jive, which had not been manifest before and took the country by storm.
Members
Steve Newman – guitar
Gito Baloi – bass and vocals
Ian Herman – drums and percussion
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 11 | 61.8th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 9 | 81.7th |
| Studio albums | 7 | 87.5th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 8 | 84.1th |
| Recording span (years) | 13 | 31.9th |
| Genres | 1 | 56th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (9 release groups · 7 studio albums)
Albums · 7
1988 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 14 tracks · 40:26
1Nada3:562Thru-Lines4:123Saki Pai5:064Tananas2:205Linda Noite4:596Man On A Jetty4:007Standanyobo6:008Hard Hat Jive4:129Jungle Stuff2:0210Inhlalini / Kramat3:3911Shake12Cabo13Fho Fhe14Inkweru1992 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 10 tracks · 52:49
1Inkhama6:162Lirandzo5:513Alegria4:354Nighttime City5:075Ashtanga5:576Ngoma5:487Shina Shina5:528Somme Dis Kaate5:309Friends4:0610Nobody Knows3:471993 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 11 tracks · 42:28
1Tlhani4:032Dreamtime4:173Inkweru3:434Shake3:505Cabo3:536Children's Dance4:507Fho Fhe3:368Lobsang4:169Sunset3:4210Spiral2:5011Nzobia3:281996 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 12 tracks · 56:02
1Vida2:592Mantra6:293Mbilo4:064Inkhama6:095Somme Dis Kaate5:406Downtown2:547Nzili3:318Short Piece3:599Standanyobo6:1810Alegria4:3911Gog and Manyaro6:0112Taketina3:171996 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 14 tracks · 1:03:57
1Nongolo7:232Folkvibe 11:323Folkvibe 23:124Seven7:165Unamunacua1:276Eastern3:567Blues for Dad6:208Unamunacua 25:569Hard Hat Jive4:5810I'll Be Waiting in the Lounge3:3711Funky Bumpkins3:2412Zanzibar5:1413Margaret5:3714Half Seven4:051999 · studio album
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Tracklist · 12 tracks · 45:41
1Tocamos Todos Dias2:522Caminhos6:223Khiribeke3:074Bow0:465Ghetto4:496Kanimambu3:447Lua2:528Novas2:539Juggler5:5210Ntiro4:4011Dr Malombo2:4512Moja4:59Re Rooted: Beatz From da Ground Up
— · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 14 tracks · 1:07:03
1Seven (7 Year Itch Shooz remix)6:022Junk City (All Alone Since I Broke the Phone remix)5:343Elungelo4:414Planet J4:115Stable Riot (Flaring Nostril remix)6:056One4:197Flight4:388Learning to Be Healed4:199Wash Your Hands (Stone Cold remix)5:2510Energyroots3:5611Dusk (feat. Billy) (Nexus mix)4:5012Noyana4:0913Funky & Loose (Mystic Marimba mix)4:0714Girl You Made Me Bad4:47
Album · 2
| Cover | Year | Title | Notes | First release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | The CollectionSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 16 tracks · 1:13:111Standanyobo6:19 2Cabo3:53 3Seven3:21 4Short Piece3:58 5Lobsang4:16 6Folk Vibe 11:31 7Folk Vibe 23:14 8Night Time City5:06 9Vida2:58 10Unamunacua II5:57 11Inkhama6:14 12Spiral2:53 13Ashtanga5:56 14Hard Hat Jive4:59 15Nongolo7:24 16Zanzibar5:12 | Compilation | 1997 | |
| 2001 | Alive in Jo'burgSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 14 tracks · 1:08:191Standanyobo6:36 2Ngoma6:22 3Khiribheke4:58 4Sambanessa4:16 5Thru Lines4:21 6Spiral3:11 7Inhlalini3:40 8Tocamos Todos Dias2:44 9Hard Hat Jive4:51 10Lua3:59 11Tananas7:08 12Caminhos6:18 13Cabo4:26 14Oyoyo5:29 | Live | 2001 |
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Tananas head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 11 | 61.8th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 9 | 81.7th |
| Studio albums | 7 | 87.5th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 8 | 84.1th |
| Recording span (years) | 13 | 31.9th |
| Genres | 1 | 56th |
Awards & honours
Line-up
| Name | From | To | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gito Baloi | — | present | |
| Ian Herman | — | present | |
| Steve Newman | — | present | original |
Where this record comes from
aliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/c69906c3-816c-4c22-a056-b6445ba53314discography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/c69906c3-816c-4c22-a056-b6445ba53314core—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2457721genre—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2457721seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tananasbiography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tananas
Why this artist is in the database
- List of South African musicians
Tier rule: curated genre/region list
Image: no portrait (not displayed: the licence credit is missing)
Wikidata: Q2457721 · MusicBrainz: c69906c3-816c-4c22-a056-b6445ba53314
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