At Vanderbilt he teaches courses on African Music, World Music, Music and Religion, Afropop, Blues, and Jazz. He is a former member of Kwaya ya Upendo in Dar es Salaam and a former faculty member at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He has engaged field research in the East African countries of Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda, and his current research focuses on the use of music, dance, and drama as medical intervention among women's village groups in rural Uganda to promote, communicate, and support HIV / AIDS awareness.