MOHAMED ILYAS / TAARAB / CD

タンザニアの秘境ザンジバーに伝わるポエティック&ストリング・トラディショナル。

Zanzibar, the spice Island, is a where Africa meets the Arab world and this is reflected in the string-laden music called Taarab.In the 50s, gentlemen’s clubs like Nada Ikhwani Safaa developed the large scale orchestral Taarab, an elegant, poetic music that epitomised Swahili culture and confirmed it’s centre as Zanzibar.Mohamed Ilyas was a major force in Nada Ikhwani Safaa and still is in the musical culture of the Island.Mohamed Ilyas is the last of a long line of great singers from Zanzibar, able to entrance audiences with his rich, expressive voice. At its heart Taarab is about the entrancement of the of the singer, calm in a lyrical storm.This is the record that will put Zanzibar on the map, a full-blown production recorded at the magnificent Sauti za Zanzibar studio by the 16 piece Noyota Zameremeta Orchestra of Zanzibar. A musical and lyrical storm, incorporating the strong percussive elements of the African influence with the powerful strings from the Egyptian roots of the music and combining both cultures in the spontaneous, relaxed, melodic vocals.