ZANZIBAR: IN a vibrant celebration of cultural diplomacy and musical brilliance, a group of talented young Russian artists ...

The festivities will commence on 19 July with a modern taarab music competition, which will be officiated by the Second Vice-President of Zanzibar, Hemed Suleiman Abdallah. On the evening of 20 July, ...

She instead developed a keen interest in traditional Zanzibar Taarab music. Zanzibar's critical content scene features 'Taarap' and a DJ in a hijab.

There’s a lot of history to discover in Zanzibar, so it’s worth carving out time to explore Stone Town, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the birthplace of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury.

Comments Bookmark Zanzibar - Zanzibari singer Bi Kidude, a legend in east Africa for her haunting voice and energetic performances despite her age, which was thought to be around 100, died on ...

Even as many music festivals were cancelled in the last two years, amid health and safety restrictions, travel complications, and scarcity of funds for the arts, one event defied the odds and ...

“Zanzibar taarab is highly distinctive, rich and customary,” he says. “The classical multi-stringed stringed instrument, qanun has, for instance, largely been replaced with the synthesizer.” ...

Taarab also known as astaarabu, is a type of music that borrows heavily from coastal influences. It has Indian, Persian, and Arab influences with Swahili lyrics.

These veterans retained Taarab’s signature tune, melody, and songcraft, as it were since the Sultan of Zanzibar, brought bands from the Middle East to entertain him in the 1880s.

You can feel it in the music. From Zanzibar, most striking is Siti Muharam (pictured below right). She’s the great granddaughter of Siti Binti Saad, a powerful woman who pioneered female singing of ...