In the Dhow Countries: Rajab Suleiman and Kithara with "Chungu"

We have some taarab music on tap for you with today's random tune. Chungu is performed by Rajab Suleiman and Kithara, with Saada Nassor providing vocals. A Tanzanian style of music also popular in Kenya, taarab was started, according to legend, between 1870 and 1880 by the last sultan of Zanzibar. Influenced by music from places such as the African Great Lakes, North Africa, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent, its first practitioners were probably Egyptian-trained musicians. Kithara is one of the most influential of today's taarab orchestras. The word taarab is Arabic for "joy in music," and though the traditional form is still played by orchestras like Kithara, you can now find "electro-taarab" all over Tanzania. Chungu can be found Rajab Suleiman and Kithara's 2013 album, Zanzibara, Vol. 8 (Chungu).

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Not Stocks, Boats: Taj Mahal and The Culture Musical Club of Zanzibar with "Dhow Countries"

Today's random tune is by an American blues legend teamed with an African orchestra. Taj Mahal is the performing name of Henry Saint Clair Fredericks, a blues musician who often incorporates elements of world music into his music. A self-taught multi-instrumentalist (guitar, banjo, piano and harmonica), he has reshaped blues by combining it with nontraditional forms from the Caribbean, Africa and the South Pacific. The Culture Musical Club of Zanzibar is one of the largest, most successful and most prolific of African orchestras. It began life as an extension of an independence party of the now semi-autonomous province of Zanzibar in Tanzania. They are known for their presentation of Swahili Taarab music. As such this song, called Dhow Countries, has a nice slow groove to it. You can find Dhow Countries on the compilation CD Putumayo Presents: African Blues (2012).

Mike would like to dedicate this song to his mother, Shirley Hess, who suffers from Alzheimers. It is her birthday today. Happy birthday, mom!