The Hot New Musical Trend In Zanzibar Is From The '80s — The 1880s
Not so long ago, Christopher John's days were spent herding his family's goats and cows in a rural part of Zanzibar, the tropical island off the coast of Tanzania. But he always loved music and used to make whistles out of papaya leaves to play while he tended to his herds. "I like it. I have to learn it," he recalls of the dreams he had when he was 12 or 13, even though his education had stopped after he completed eight years of school.
John no longer tends to livestock full-time. At 20, he plays flute in weekly concerts at the Dhow Countries Music Academy, where he began studying in 2011.
He's part of a revival of , a traditional form of music that dates to the 1880s. At the time, the island was governed by the sultan of Oman, who brought a ensemble from the Middle East to play in his palace in Zanzibar. Eventually, the music took on African and Indian influences as well, reflecting the island's history as a crossroads of trade. The different musical sounds came in on the dhows, traditional wooden boats, that carried ivory, spices and slaves across the Indian Ocean.
