Siti & The Band – Subira
https://amf.didiermary.fr/siti-band-subira/
Bongo Flava meets Taarab, with Siti & the Band, from Zanzibar, Tanzania that has been together since 2016. Fueled by a mutual interest in traditional Taarab and Afro Fusion like Kidumbaki, Afro Jazz and more. It’s 80’s traditional Taarab with Arab instruments like Oud and Qanun. Zanzibar’s music history has been determined by female voices […]
Taarab from Tanzania and Kenya
https://amf.didiermary.fr/taarab-from-tanzania-and-kenya/
Taarab is a music genre popular in Tanzania and Kenya. Here, the singer is Bi Kidude, the Zanzibari star, the Queen of Taarab (RIP).
Her exact date of birth is unknown, much of her life story is uncorroborated, giving her an almost mythical status.
In interviews, she usually answers she’s 100 years old or more… […]
Bi Kidude – Alalminadura
https://amf.didiermary.fr/bi-kidude-alalminadura/
“Alalminadura” is the opening song (extract) from the documentary As Old As My Tongue, about Bi Kidude and Taarab music in Zanzibar.
She performs one of her most famous songs on board the dhow Asraa, accompanied by Matona (oud), Abeid Hussein (dumbak) and Mohamed Outhman (violin). […]
I met Bi Kidude, The Venerable Queen of Taarab, in February 2011, when attending Sauti za Busara Festival in Zanzibar. We spent a delightful moment backstage…
She passed away in 2013.
https://amf.didiermary.fr/bi-kidude-rip/
"Carrying the torch for future generations, before us on stage were Mali's truest global ambassadors, speaking in tongues that required no translation.
Our only possible response at the end of the show was to breathe in astonished silence and wonder, then treasure deep feelings of gratitude for having been blessed with a gift of truly infinite proportions."
I Shot Bi Kidude – Trailer
https://amf.didiermary.fr/shot-bi-kidude-trailer/
I Shot Bi Kidude is a documentary on the Queen of Taarab music, her story, her music and Zanzibar.
“I shot Bi Kidude” – review on IMDb
A life-affirming documentary about an internationally famous Zanzibari singer and her last years. The film revisits the singer Bi Kidude, previously the subject of a documentary about her […]
Culture Musical Club & Bi Kidude – Jua Toka
https://amf.didiermary.fr/culture-musical-club-bi-kidude-jua-toka/
Culture Musical Club, Zanzibar’s premier Taarab club, won the Songs For Peace competition at Sauti za Busara 2015.
2 videos with Bi Kidude, live at Afrikafestival Hertme 2009: “On its tours the club regularly features invited guest singers. The summer 2009 included the legendary Bi Kidude, the veteran diva of Zanzibar, who was in her […]
![From Yusuf Mahmoud on LinkedIn
Founder, Busara Promotions & Sauti za Busara festival
Wow, I am still lost for words after witnessing the closing performance by Salif
Keita's band, Sunday 8 Feb at Sauti za Busara festival here in Zanzibar.
After months of anticipation, only moments before the show was due to begin, the big screen lit up with a message none of us expected. The legendary Salif Keita, visibly emotional, repeating ‘désolé,' informing festival attendees he was diagnosed with a serious heart condition and unable to travel from Bamako.
{* Our hearts and prayers are with you, Salif. May your heavenly music live forever, carrying the soul of Africa across continents and generations *]
@ But Salf's spirit was with us. @
Powerfully represented by a commanding ensemble of 11 Malian musicians and singers - including younger family members - one by one, they took to the stage, armed with an array of electric and acoustic traditional instruments.
What followed was pure transcendence.
Slow, gently, they lifted the crowd skyward, into a vision of a united Africa, a vast and beautiful landscape with no borders, no politics; only a humanity at peace with itself, united in sound and rhythm.
From hushed, spirtually-charged beginnings, the energy built steadily and surely into an explosive finale, losing with timeless Salif classics including "Yamore," "Africa," and "Madan."](/proxy/post_attachment/219143/e5f4119406.png "From Yusuf Mahmoud on LinkedIn
Founder, Busara Promotions & Sauti za Busara festival
Wow, I am still lost for words after witnessing the closing performance by Salif
Keita's band, Sunday 8 Feb at Sauti za Busara festival here in Zanzibar.
After months of anticipation, only moments before the show was due to begin, the big screen lit up with a message none of us expected. The legendary Salif Keita, visibly emotional, repeating ‘désolé,' informing festival attendees he was diagnosed with a serious heart condition and unable to travel from Bamako.
{* Our hearts and prayers are with you, Salif. May your heavenly music live forever, carrying the soul of Africa across continents and generations *]
@ But Salf's spirit was with us. @
Powerfully represented by a commanding ensemble of 11 Malian musicians and singers - including younger family members - one by one, they took to the stage, armed with an array of electric and acoustic traditional instruments.
What followed was pure transcendence.
Slow, gently, they lifted the crowd skyward, into a vision of a united Africa, a vast and beautiful landscape with no borders, no politics; only a humanity at peace with itself, united in sound and rhythm.
From hushed, spirtually-charged beginnings, the energy built steadily and surely into an explosive finale, losing with timeless Salif classics including \"Yamore,\" \"Africa,\" and \"Madan.\"")
