The rich culture of the nine sub-tribes of the Mijikenda people, Waswahili, and Arabs, punctuated by folk songs, poems, and dances dominated the Mashujaa Day celebrations in Kwale. The rhythm of the ...

Taarab music has come of age. Gone are the days when lovers of the soulful melodies merely sat back and listened as their favourite songs were played. Today, Taarab fans are packing entertainment ...

In Zanzibar, taarab music is finding new patrons, scholars and audiences. I would sit beside him listening to the music, drumming on tables and anything else I could find Musician Mohammed Issa Matona ...

Nairobi — Although taarab music rarely features on entertainment menus of leisure spots outside the coastal strip, the growth of the music genre, whose roots are said to go back to over a century, has ...

At a time when cultural musical styles have rapidly evolved, an East African genre that is nearly a century old is struggling to retain its identity. Contemporary influences have had a huge impact on ...

NAIROBI-based taarab duo group, Asista, is calling out for unity among the artistes from around the Swahili-speaking countries of East Africa. Priding itself as the only taarab-singing group in the ...

A famous Zanzibari singer and composer, Siti binti Saad established taarab as a performing art and as a mouthpiece for women in East Africa. In the process, she became a pioneer in many ways. Siti ...

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When a genre of music that has changed very little of its original format over a period of almost a century begins to embrace contemporary influences, then its traditional fanbase is often stunned by ...

Zimbabweans had a feel of a unique flavour of Arabian Taarab music on Thursday night from a group from Zanzibar which performed at the Harare International Festival of the Arts (Hifa). The audience ...