Music of Bahrain

The music of Bahrain is part of the Persian Gulf folk traditions. Alongside Kuwait, it is known for sawt music, a bluesy genre influenced by African, Indian and Persian music. Sultan Hamid, Ali Bahar and Khaled El Sheikh (a singer and oud player) are among the most popular musicians from Bahrain.^[1]

Bahrain was the site of the first Persian Gulf-based recording studio, established after World War II.^[2] Modern music institutions in Bahrain include the Bahrain Music Institute, the Bahrain Orchestra and the Classical Institute of Music. The Bahraini male-only pearl diving tradition is known for the songs called fidjeri.^[3]

Liwa and Fann at-Tanbura are types of music and dance performed mainly in communities of descendants of Bantu peoples from the African Great Lakes region.

^ Badley, Bill. "Sounds of the Arabian Peninsula". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp 351-354. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
^ Cite error: The named reference AUC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Music of Bahrain's Pearl Divers". MSN Encarta. Archived from the original on 2007-04-29. Retrieved September 28, 2005.