The King Of Sudanese Jazz

Description

Contemporary Sudanese music has many influences, from both Arabic music and sub-Saharan traditions. It finds its roots in madeeh (praise songs to the Prophet Mohammed). The genre evolved into something slightly irreverent in the 1930s and 1940s when haqiba music, the secular successor to madeeh, became popular. Haqiba music, a mainly vocal art in which the musicians accompanying the lead singer use few instruments, spread like wildfire through Sudan’s urban centers. It was the music of weddings, family gatherings, and wild impromptu parties. Sharhabil Ahmed was born in 1935 and is the originator of the Sudanese jazz scene. His goal was to modernize Sudanese music by blending it with Western influences and instruments, which was completely unheard of at the time. Sharhabil’s music thus sounds like a unique combination of surf, rock’n’roll, funk, Congolese music, and East African harmonies.