Taarab

Taarab is the sung orchestral music of the Swahili coast of Tanzania and Kenya, centred on Zanzibar and Mombasa. It fuses Arabic, Indian and East African elements: Swahili poetic texts are sung in a melismatic, ornamented style over ensembles combining violins, oud, kanun, accordion, harmonium and percussion. Singers such as *Siti binti Saad* and *Bi Kidude* and orchestras like the *Ikhwani Safaa Musical Club* made taarab the region's prestige music for weddings and celebrations, performed seated and formally, with lyrics prized for proverb, allusion and social commentary.