Artists

Matona's Cultural Band is comprised of musicians from Zanzibar and mainland Tanzania. Mohamed Issa Haji 'Matona' is one of Zanzibar's most legendary musicians. He is a teacher at the Dhow Countries Music Academy and has been performing music for over 40 years. 

 For the past two years Matona read more

Maulidi Juma started singing in the 1960s and formed his original Mombasa Musical Party in 1972. The group has released more than 40 Recordings and continues to be one of the most popular groups of Kenyan coastal taarab. Their music exemplifies the Mombasa sound which shows the influence of Indian read more

Mohamed Ilyas embodies the culture and history of the Zanzibar islands like no other. He comes from a great tradition of taarab singers who took the Arabic origin of the art form and transformed it to a uniquely Zanzibar experience. He is firmly grounded in this tradition, with a read more

Founded in 1905, Nadi Ikhwan Safaa can probably trace its roots back further than any other orchestra in Africa.

At first, the group played Egyptian and Arabic music. In the early 1950s, they started composing their own songs with Swahili lyrics. Since then, Ikhwan Safaa - or ‘Malindi Taarab’, as they read more

Kikundi cha Taifa (National Taarab Orchestra) of Zanzibar was founded many years ago, having a flexible set up but always featuring the cream of the crop of taarab musicians from the Islands.

The group is presently under the artistic direction of two of Zanzibar's taarab maestros, Mr Iddi Suwedi of Culture read more

Born in Mombasa Kenya, Mwanaisha Abdallah aka Nyota Ndogo has been building an enthusiastic local and international fan base for her eclectic East African sound for the past decade. A powerful singer-songwriter and charismatic performer, she has a distinctly coastal yet modern and unique sound that deserves worldwide attention.

Nyota's father read more