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Style
taarab, traditional
Festivals
Sauti za Busara 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
Recordings
Taarab 4: The Music of Zanzibar – Culture Musical Club (1988, GlobeStyle), Spices of Zanzibar (1996, Network), Kidumbak Kalcha: Ng ’ambo – The Other Side of Zanzibar (1997, Dizim), Bashraf – Taarab Instrumentals from Zanzibar (2000, Dizim), Waridi – Parfums de Zanzibar (2003, Jahazi), Zanzibar – De l’âme à la danse / Zanzibar – Soul & Rhythm (2003, Jahazi)
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Zanzibar, island of spices and meeting point of the trade winds... Imagine a stroll down Stone Town's narrow alleys, mansions built of coral rag, intricately carved and brass-studded doors—witnesses of past glory—balconies high up to catch a tropical breeze, the aroma of spicy food, cloves, cardamom, pilipili, coconut-scented rice, the muezzin's calls for prayer at sunset. With all this you have got the visual and sensual equivalents to the leisurely sound of Swahili taarab, itself the result of hundreds of years of exchange of musical and poetic ideas across the Indian Ocean. Founded in 1958, the Culture Musical Club is Zanzibar's premier taarab club. The orchestra performs widely at concerts in Zanzibar town, but also frequently travels overland with a fold-up stage and an electricity generator to bring its music to the rural areas. The club has released hundreds of songs on the local market and since 1988 they have had five releases on the international market. The group have been performing in Europe regularly since 1996, and in the past few years they have done shows in United States, Dominican Republic and Japan. Besides taarab, many club members are also active in kidumbak groups, smaller ensembles that play a more down-home, dance-focused music. Both types of music are now included in their shows, contrasting the serene sound of orchestral taarab to the festive and sexually charged dance that is kidumbak. The taarab orchestra includes three violins, qanun, oud, two accordions, double bass, dumbak, bongos and rika, plus singers and female chorus. The kidumbak side features three violins, sanduku (tea-chest bass), two kidumbak drums, cherewa (maracas) and mkwasa (claves), female chorus & dancers.
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