Colette's Grand Detour

Day 17 (13th August 2025)

My plan this evening was to head to Emerson Spice Hotel (the sister hotel of the place I am staying) where there is a beautiful restaurant called The Secret Garden and the opportunity to listen to some traditional Zanzibari music – called Taarab.

The restaurant is stunning. Built inside an abandoned building with no roof, and whitewashed walls crumbling to expose the coral stone core, the restaurant feels like a little oasis away from the busy streets outside. The tables all face the stage and there is greenery everywhere. The restaurant offers a small a la carte menu which is mostly seafood and the option to pay a little extra to stay after dinner and enjoy the live music. The food is delicious, but if you are a little sensitive to spice, be warned, some of the dishes are a little pili pili (Swahili for hot!).

The music started at about 8.30pm, after the calls to prayer across the city finally ended for the evening. The band consists of a lady on the drums, and one singing. And three men, one on the lute, one the saxophone and one the zither. They started with a traditionally Arabic song without the singer and saxophone. And then moved into the Taarab style music. This was so that we could see the difference in how the instruments are played and the general vibe and rhythm.

Taarab music developed in Zanzibar in the late 19th century and is influenced by Swahili beats and cultural traditions, Arabic poetry and Egyptian orchestras. The person who really made Taarab music reach its huge popularity though is a lady named Siti binti Saad. She is one of Zanzibar’s most celebrated cultural icons and is credited for bringing Taarab out of the elite Arab-speaking world and into the ordinary person’s Swahili-speaking world. She took traditional songs and adjusted them to be in Swahili, making the music accessible to the local population and something unique belonging to Zanzibar.

Her first recordings were groundbreaking for an East African artist. She was one of the first African women to travel to India to produce her records. And thousands of copies of her first recordings were sold across East Africa. She was East Africa’s first popstar, before pop stars even existed. And her legacy endures. Across Stone Town there were adverts for different concerts that were being held each evening to allow tourists to enjoy this local flavor of music. And her songs are still frequently played at weddings and other gatherings on the island. The musicians at the The Secret Garden started with some of her earliest songs and slowly made their way through various songs in her catalog. I think the saxophone is probably a more modern addition to this style of music, but it worked.

The music had a great beat and was easy to listen to. I would recommend seeing a small concert whilst in the town, if you ever visit Zanzibar.