About Me
Abdel Gadir Salim Biography -
When Abdel Gadir Salim, the exceptional singer, composer and oud (Sudanese lute) player was a student at the prestigious Institute of Music & Drama in Khartoum, he turned for inspiration to the music of his native Kordofan.
The province of Kordofan is a desert region to the west of the country, where most of the people are nomadic cattle herders. They came to this part of Sudan from every corner of the Islamic empire, bringing with them the rich traditions of Arabic culture, which has changed, developed and adapted in response to the passing years.
So the songs of Kordofan owe much to Arabic traditions but are sung in colloquial dialect with melodies and rhythms that have a flavour distinctive of Kordofan.
Although the pentatonic scale dominates Sudanese music traditional and modern there is a tendency in Kordofan to introduce half and even quarter tones bringing the music closer to classical Arabic traditions. And there is the distinctive 6/8 rhythm of the mardoum wedding dance which has inspired so many songs throughout the region.
Salim took some of the lyrics, he took the melodies and the rhythm of Kordofan and played them on the oud. He brought together musicians to play violins, electric guitars, organ, accordion, and percussion. Together they played the music of the western nomads but they played in concert halls, on radio and television and the songs of Kordofan became known and loved throughout Sudan.
Salim is not from a family of musicians. He was born in El Obeid the first Oasis town on the western edge of Sudan. He trained first as a teacher but, already an accomplished oud player, was awarded a five year scholarship to study music at the Institute. In recent years, between giving concerts in Sudan and throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Salim is headmaster of a Sudanese school in Chad.
In 2005 Salim teamed up with young Sudanese rapper Emmanuel Jal to release the acclaimed album Ceasefire.
By H.M. Yassin (updated by Dave McGuire) -
Abdel Aziz El Mubarak
Biography -
Abdel Aziz El Mubarak has been one of the biggest names in Sudanese pop music for over 40 years. A huge star of television and radio, he has toured extensively throughout Africa and the Arab states. His cassettes have sold in their hundreds of thousands, but due to the politics of the Sudanese recording industry he has to rely on live performances as his main source of income.
Mubarak, like fellow Sudanese star Abdel Gadir Salim, is an ex-student of Mahi Ismaels Institute of Music & Drama. Born in 1951, he not only comes from a musical family but from a whole village of musicians called Medani about 180km east of Khatoum.
Mubaraks music is the greatest fusion of the three artists that feature on World Circuits Sounds of Sudan album. Sudanese music is extremely adaptable and Mubarak, who describes himself as a modern Sudanese singer, plays in the city style which today combines elements of Arabic, African and Western influences. The influences on my music are mostly from Africa.my songs are much listened to in Ethiopia, Djibouti, Chad, Nigeria and Cameroon. Maps of Sudan from the 19th century include much of modern west Africa and, due to the Islamic influence, his music is very popular throughout that area today.
Our music and Ethiopian music is very similar and we like it, Mubarak says, and the influx of Ethiopians into the Sudan as refugees since the mid-1980s has no doubt added to the mixture of styles. The Egyptian influence was there at the birth of the modern Sudanese style and is still strong, although other forms continue to be absorbed. Says Mahi Ismail There is a kind of mixing not only between ethnic groups, but also bringing in outside influences, European influences. Even reggae has now started to appear in some Sudanese songs.
The fusion in Mubaraks music stems largely from the fact that he is an urban singer. The style, which cuts across ethnic barriers, originated at the turn of the century in response to the increasingly cosmopolitan population of the cities. As large numbers of people from all over the country were attracted to centres such as Khartoum, a fusion grew of the various peoples musical styles.
Mubarak is usually accompanied by a group of about eleven players comprising electric guitars, organ, saxophone, violins, accordion, bass and drums largely western instruments in an ensemble borrowed from Egypt. The urban ensemble began with a group on singers accompanying themselves with the percussive effects of banging a large wooden pole with sticks. This was soon replaced with the riq (tambourine) which caught on like fire. In the 1920s a group of popular riq singers travelled to Egypt to record and, impressed with the instrumentation used there, they adopted the oud, violin, accordion and tabla and introduced them to Sudan. The small group used on this recording is similar to the line-up used in the 1920s.
Of the instruments used in the modern ensemble, only the singers oud, a form of lute, is of Arabic origin. Mubarak plays the instrument in a style particular to Sudan; instead of strumming he uses the percussive tambour style using enormous attack and drive and very little vibrato. The instrument is tuned a half or full tone higher than it is in other Arab countries; this is typical of Sudanese music whereby instruments and styles are adapted to suit the needs of the player. The music is heavily based on dance rhythms and there is plenty of scope for improvisation. The players interact beautifully and the small group used here has the advantage of throwing the leaders superb playing and lush voice into greater relief.
Mubaraks repertoire consists of romantic love songs. They are written in a highly poetic style and are full of beautiful symbolism. The songs of the modern city style were developed to appeal to peoples from all over the country. Neutral songs in Arabic which could not be identified with any particular group became enormously popular and even the singing style is distinctively of the city. The melodies are modern in sound but are not far removed from the old traditions.
By H.M. Yassin -
Mohamed Gubara
Biography -
Mohamed Gubara is considered one of Sudans finest players of the tambur, or lyre, an instrument which has changed little fro over 5000 years. He sings songs of social commentary, political protest and love, in a voice that is completely original.
Mohamed Gubara was born into a small village in the Northern Province of Sudan in October 1947. Music and dance are an important part of everyday life to Gubaras Shaigiyya people and he began to play the tambur at the age of ten, quickly mastering the basics of the ancient instrument. The youngest child after three sisters, he decided to leave his village at the age of fourteen due to the over-protectiveness of his mother.
He travelled to Atbara, the railway capital of Sudan, in the southern part of Northern Province where he found work as a messenger. He joined a club (Al-Ahli) where he could develop his skills on the tambur as an amateur. It was at this club where he was first encouraged to sing. His natural way of singing showed little influence of traditional Sudanese styles and his spine tingling high pitched delivery won him great favour with local audiences. This local fame led to his composing the music for the first Sudanese film Hopes and Dreams.
In 1970 Gubara left Atbara for Khartoum, a perfect singer but an unknown one. In Khartoum he joined the Armys Musical Corps where he was given a chance on the air in the Armed Forces programme aired weekly be Sudan Broadcasting Service (Radio Omdurman). The first song to usher him into the world of fame was Umma (Mother) which narrates the deep sorrow of a loving son who has travelled far away from his mother. The song drove tears to the eyes of many of the Sudanese audience at Gubaras first concerts in London in 1986.
Most of Gubaras songs are given to him by poets from his Shaigiyya tribe, who also compose the melody. These poets find Gubaras voice the perfect vehicle to express their songs. Many of the top Sudanese singers have songs written for them by poets who record their work onto cassette, often accompanying themselves on oud to suggest the melody. The poems are then re-arranged by the singer, Gubaras songs and melodies are specially written with the singer in mind and he does not re-arrange them, just puts his little touches to them. Most of Gubaras songs are written by a poet called Elsir Osman, with whom the singer shares a great affinity. He says that he finds himself in Osmans poems and songs.
By H.M. Yassin
