Search - Various Artists :: Air Mail Music: Zanzibar - Savours of Spice

Zanzibar's musical traditions, rooted in the Swahili culture, combine elements from Africa, the Arab world, and India. This program, from an island famed for its spices, includes polyphonic vocal pieces and the sounds of stringed instruments, Indian percussion, and vibrant rhythms. The musicians use ancient Arab instruments such as the qanun (a zither with a trapezoidal soundboard), the ud (lute), and the nay (an end-blown flute), as well as violins, cellos, double basses, guitar, accordion, harmonium, and percussion instruments such as the dumbek (hand drum), rika (tambourine), and bongos.