Thursday 31 January 2013

Malian musician Khaira Arby and her band Malian artist, to perform in Zanzibar ,Tumbuktu Taarab

They had their launching ceremony for the event, which is scheduled to be held in Zanzibar between February 15 and 17. It was also confirmed that out of the 22 professional artistes that are listed to perform on this year’s stage, 12 are from outside of the country, six from the Tanzanian mainland and four from Zanzibar. With respect to this the question was raised, as to why there were not any Bongo Flava artistes within this line-up. “What we are looking for is to promote musicians that are producing their own music. But also the Tanzanian themselves, who form part of the audience, would like to see something live. There is appreciation of the local recorded music, like Bongo Flava, but people want to see something live, someone using instruments, either traditional, modern or a mixture,” he replied. In reference to this issue Said, who is also the board’s acting chairman, made it clear during the press conference and in a one-to-one with him afterwards that the event is basically a platform for artistes to be identified for the type of music they want to play. Also, it is part of the event’s organisers’ move to promote the whole of East African music, by building the arts infrastructure towards their strategy, of what they want to achieve. Before leaving the location, the opportunity to find out more about the reasons behind the local US Embassy’s assistance to the event, was taken-up. In this regards their Public Affairs Officer, Dana Banks, told the ‘Daily News’ one of their main objectives here in the country is to support local culture. That is why they have been providing assistance in one way or another to this event. In their zeal to do something special for this tenth anniversary year, they have agreed to cover all expenses for the Malian artist, Khaira Arby and her band with their roots, traditional and spiritual sounds, to come and perform. “There is a bit of a crises right now in Mali and we thought it was important to bring a musician, especially female taarab musician to come to Sauti za Busara to demonstrate the linkage and the Pan-African metre from West Africa all the way to Zanzibar and to show support for the Malian people at this time,” she replied. On a more personal note she thinks the music of this Malian musician and her band is “fantastic” with its’ mysterious cultural nature that makes one feel the culture of the people and get a sense of their struggles and joys expressed in their music.

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