Rajab Suleiman & Kithara

Its location in the“Black Indian Ocean” on the ancient trading routes used by Arabs and Indians along the east coast of Africa made Zanzibar the epicenter of Muslim Swahili culture. Taarab – Arabic for "joy through music" – provides the soundtrack: with Indian harmonium and kanun, violins, oud and ney flute.

Rajab Suleiman was trained to play the oriental kanun zither at the Culture Musical Club of Zanzibar, which was its roots in the independence struggle of the 1950s and has become one of the most influential taarab orchestras. "Electro-taarab" can be heard in the alleys of Zanzibar, while the traditional acoustic style is played at weddings. Suleiman was able to secure the services of Rukia Ramadhan and Makame Faki, two of the leading singers of this lyrical-ornamental style, for his own orchestra, Kithara.