Will Ross reports from Zanzibar and Mombasa on how traditional Taarab music is responding to the challenge of new influences. In the 1930's the great Taarab singer, Siti Bint Saad, was a prized ...

A month or two after most music critics compile their favorite albums of 2014, I’m finally getting around to making my list. Few international titles brought me more pleasure than Chungu, a dazzling ...

Mariam Hamdani tunes her ganoun gently, the sunlight catching her turquoise ring as she takes time to calibrate each string with the help of an iPhone app. Her henna-highlighted hair peeks out from ...

If hot and sweaty nights of endless dancing are your thing, then Tanzania might just be your ideal holiday destination. Its live music scene is dominated by two distinct genres. One is called muziki ...

For honeymooners, this island is a chance to immerse themselves in culture and hospitality that feels as deep as the tides ...

Here’s an improbable second chance in as many months to hear African taraab music performed live. At the World Music Festival in September the sprawling Culture Musical Club made its U.S. debut, ...

Of all the exotic bands to land in Chicago during the ongoing World Music Festival, one stands apart from the rest. But it’s not just geographical distance that distinguished the appearance of the ...

Zanzibar music lovers everywhere are mourning the loss of legendary musician Makame Faki Makame, who died on January 18, 2020, at the age of 77, at Global hospital in Stone Town, Zanzibar, following a ...

Not so long ago, Christopher John's days were spent herding his family's goats and cows in a rural part of Zanzibar, the tropical island off the coast of Tanzania. But he always loved music and used ...

Not so long ago, Christopher John's days were spent herding his family's goats and cows in a rural part of Zanzibar, the tropical island off the coast of Tanzania. But he always loved music and used ...