The radio, wired up to a car battery, crackles into life in the near darkness outside the first house of Kizambani village, where a small crowd has gathered to listen for the moon. Above us the sky is pitch black, with not even a star visible.

The new moon, if it puts in an appearance tonight, will mean the end of a long hard month of fasting for Zanzibar's predominantly Muslim population. During daylight hours in the lunar month of Ramadan the faithful may not eat, drink, smoke - or have sex. Only the sick, young children and travellers are exempt. In temperatures that rise to over 90 degrees Fahrenheit in the wavy heat of the afternoons, giving up food and water is no token gesture. From tonight, though, an exhausting twenty-eight days of abstinence is up and the party can begin...or can it?

Read more of The Moon and the Music