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 ...

It was in 2019 when Baikoko, an erotic dance, prompted mixed reactions after it was performed at the Nyege Nyege Festival. The dance traces its roots to the Tanzanian port city of Tanga. Sometimes ...

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 ...

Women in Taarab : the performing art in East Africa / Mohamed El-Mohammady Rizk Smithsonian Libraries and Archives ...

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 ...