Taarab (Tanzanie)

Style musical tanzanien de Zanzibar

Taarab (Tanzania)

Taarab is a musical style from the island of Zanzibar (Tanzania), born in the 1920s-30s. The term comes from Arabic tarab (emotion, musical ecstasy). It is a soft and romantic music played with Arabic instruments (oud, qanoun, violin) and African ones (drums).

The pioneers of taarab include the orchestra Ufunguo wa Busurika and later Khamis Bin Mutin, the Zanzibar groups that popularized this style throughout Tanzania and East Africa.

Taarab is a fusion of Swahili rhythms and Arabic influences, and remains popular at Zanzibar ceremonies.

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