zomba is malawi's only maximum security prison, and the music ? ? ? this prison was built to hold around 400 inmates. today there are 2,400 here. ? ? ? what's so startling when you walk into the prison yard on a sunday morning, is that everywhere you turn, there is music. ? ? ? a cacophony of choirs. ? ? ? many here are hardened criminals-- robbers, rapists, murderers. others are casualties of a legal system that can be chaotic and arbitrary, where court files are routinely lost, and most suspects have no legal representation. in a small room off the yard, there's a prison band practicing every day on donated instruments. ? ? ? those men in green are guards. they play side by side with inmates. ? ? ? ian brennan, an american producer who travels the world recording new music in unlikely places, heard aboumb three years ago, flew to malawi to check it out. you're taking a gamble. because-- you go to places, you don't necessarily know what's there, right-- ? >> ian brennan: no, no, no. we-- we have no idea. it's a leap of faith every single time. >> coo

the song she wrote for the zomba prison album is called "i am alone." rhoda mtemang'iombe ( translated ): i have no parents. i have no husband, and i'm here in prison. so i realize there's no one who can help me. so i ask god to help me. he's the only one who can guide me across this huge river. >> cooper: rhoda is serving a life sentence here in zomba. she's in for murder. do you feel like you're glorifying criminals? >> brennan: no. no, no, no. it's humanizing them-- >> cooper: humanizing-- >> brennan: --not glorifying them, at all, right? they've committed crimes. many of them have learned from their experiences. this is about humanizing individuals-- >> brennan: --and that's for the benefit, not of them; that's for the benefit of the listener. >> cooper: the album ian brennan recorded at zomba did not end up winning the grammy this past year... and it hasn't turned a profit either. brennan has paid the musicians, and they have a contract to receive more money if there are when he showed up at zomba with his wife marilena in may to present the prison

the artists weren't polished pop stars, but prisoners and guards, in a place called zomba.aximum security prison, so decrepit and overcrowded, it's been called "hell's waiting room." ♪ ♪ how could such beautiful music come from such misery? ♪ ♪ we went to malawi to find out. ♪ ♪ >> i'm steve kroft. >> i'm leslie stahl. >> i'm bill whitaker. >> i'm anderson cooper. >> i'm scott pelley. those stories, tonight on "60 minutes." >> cbs money watch sponsored by american express open. proud supporter of growing businesses. >> quijano: good evening. the final jobs report before the election comes out friday. it's expected to show 175,000 jobs were added this month. pfizer and starbucks report earnings this week, and halloween shoppers are expected to scare up a record $8.4 billion in sales. i'm elaine quijano, cbs news. i thought i married an italian. my lineage was the vecchios and zuccolis. through ancestry, through dna i found out that i was only 16% italian. he was 34% eastern european. so i went onto ancestry, soon learned that one of our ancestors we thought was italian was e

stars, but prisoners and guards, men and women in a place called zomba. a maximum security prison, so decrepit and overcrowded, we heard it referred to as "the waiting room of hell." how could such beautiful music come from such misery? we went to malawi to find out. ? ? ? ? ? ? this is the music that brought us to malawi, one of the least- developed nations on the planet. ? ? ? it's a place of staggering beauty. there's vast mountains, lush forests, and a long, idyllic lake. drive through the countryside, however, and you quickly see poverty is widespread. for the country's 17 million people, life is full of hardships. security prison, and the music you're hearing comes from behind these walls. ? ? ? this prison was built to hold around 400 inmates. today there are 2,400 here. ? ? ? what's so startling when you walk into the prison yard on a sunday morning, is that everywhere you turn, there is music. ? ? ? a cacophony of choirs. ? ? ? many here are hardened criminals-- robbers, rapists, murderers. others are casualties of a legal system that can be chao

the artists weren't polished pop stars, but prisoners and guards, in a place called zomba. a maximum security prison, so decrepit and overcrowded, it's been called "hell's waiting room."

the artists weren't polished pop stars, but prisoners and guards, in a place called zomba. a maximum security prison, so decrepit and overcrowded, it's been called "hell's waiting room." ? ? ? co come from such misery? ? ? ? we went to malawi to find out. ? ? ? >> i'm steve kroft. >> i'm leslie stahl. >> i'm bill whitaker. >> i'm anderson cooper. >> i'm scott pelley. those stories, tonight on "60