AUGUST 30, 2006
Culture Musical Club To Make North American Debut
Venerable Zanzibari Taraab Orchestra Announces First U.S. Tour
by Tom PryorNorth American audiences will get a rare opportunity to experience one of East Africa's oldest musical ensembles live when Zanzibari taraab orchestra Culture Musical Club makes its first stateside tour in September 2006.
Founded in 1958 in Stonetown, Zanzibar, the multi-generational orchestra performs and preserves taraab, the unique, Arabic-derived music of East Africa's Swahili coast. Like most taraab ensembles, Culture Musical Club is a big band, with a rotating cast of dozens of singers and musicians. The music is sung in Swahili, but is derived from Egyptian classical ensembles, and is played on a blend of Western and Arab instruments, with khanouns, ouds, and dumbeks playing alongside contrabasses and violins.
On this tour, Culture Musical Club will be travelling with a complement of 13 performers, including up-and-coming taraab singer Amina, who collaborated with the group on several songs on her upcoming CD.
The short, nine-date tour is scheduled to kick off in Milwaukee, WI on September 17th and end in New York City on September 27th. Please contact individual venues for ticketing information and showtimes.
Culture Musical Club Tour Dates:
September 17: Alverno College, Milwaukee, WI
September 18: Chicago World Music Festival, Chicago, IL
September 19: Chicago World Music Festival, Chicago, IL
September 20: Chicago World Music Festival, Chicago, IL
September 21: The Arab American National Museum, Dearborn, MI
September 22: World Music Festival, Madison, WI
September 23: World Music Festival, Madison, WI
September 24: Town Hall, Seattle, WA
September 27: Makor, New York, NY