An Noor - Lamu, Kenya
Hailing from Lamu, Kenya, the An Noor band is a troupe of more than ten musicians: Percussionists, singers, keyboardist, and flautist. Sometimes they are accompanied by dancers when playing at big weddings.
Their leader, Khalid, who is also the composer and arranger of most of their songs, aims to fuse together the midzikenda sounds of Giriama/Bajuni music with the oriental Taarab rhythms on the tabla, which will mostly be accentuated by bongos or congas. They compose true to the tradition of taarab music though, with the organ establishing the main melodic riff, which will then be sung in verse and chorus form. After which the organ will establish the melody again, with embellishments and decorations, and the whole structure is repeated again. The organ, a key instrument in their work (and Taarab Music in general) forms the main harmonic bedrock for the singers to recite their beautiful poetry over, and they bring together a wide variety of traditional grooves from coastal Kenya, i.e Chakacka, Mwanzele, Kifundo, mbumbumbu, and many others, to create a Taarab texture that is distinctly their own.
Taarab music has its roots back in the days when the East Africa coast was ruled by Sultans from Oman. And since colonial times it has come to be identified with coastal culture in Kenya. The An Noor band aim to provide an organic Taarab ambience at wedding parties, but their music is as beautiful as any other culture’s, and has progressively found its way to more varied audiences in Lamu and across into the mainland.
lyrics
Original Lyrics (unknown)
credits
released April 23, 2023
This collaboration is a re work recorded and produced by Max Doblhoff & Sidney Simila with the Taarab & Swahili Band - An Noor in Lamu, Kenya.
Musicians recorded:
An Noor Band:
Nuteila - Vocal
Khalid Omar - Tabla
Sidney Simila - Keys & Electronics
Max Doblhoff - Drums & Arrangement
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