Zein L'Abdin was born in 1939 on the Island of Lamu on the northern Kenya coast. From the late 1960s onwards Zein became something like the musical father of the Mombasa taarab scene, with all of today's famous musicians, at one point or another in their career, passing through Zein's group. The Zein Musical Party thus featured the voices of Maulidi, Zuhura Swaleh and Malika, Mohamed Mbwana's harmonium or organ, or Bakari Salim's accordion. Zein's groups in the 1980s - in typical Mombasa taarab style - branched out to include violin, accordion, keyboard, bass guitar and a percussion section.

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