|
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد (Re: Kostawi)
|
26 February - 3 March 2004 Issue No. 679 Al-Ahram Weekly
A solid niche
Sonali Pahwa speaks with Sudanese musician Sharhabeel Ahmed about musical beginnings and futures
It comes as a mild surprise that a singer who has been packing in young audiences at recent shows is well into his 60s. Sharhabeel Ahmed's music was synthesised in the melting pot of 1960s Sudan, when music was emphatically youthful and heedless of tradition, and it seems to have aged as little as the singer himself. His dignified presence and jazz and reggae rhythms seem to dovetail with the recent resurgence in live music venues in Cairo, and the Sudanese singer is enjoying a new popularity more than 30 years after his first Egyptian hit, Al-Leil Al-Hadi (Peaceful Night).
"I began to visit Cairo to perform and record songs in the 70s," Sharhabeel recounts, "particularly for the Wadi Al-Nil radio station's Sudan Corner. I even made what you would now call a video clip for Al-Leil Al-Hadi. In those days there were several of us Sudanis who produced records in Egypt -- facilities were better here than in Sudan. As early as the 1930s and 40s the big names of haqiba music, Sarour, Karoma, Zingar and Aisha Al-Falatiya, came to record with the Cairophone company. Haqiba music, you know, was traditional vocal music with little accompaniment beyond a tambourine. When our generation came in the 1960s, we came with a new style. It was a time of worldwide revolution in music. In Europe, the rhythms of swing and tango were being replaced by jazz, samba, rock- and-roll. We were influenced by this rejuvenation in Sudan, too. I started out by learning to play the oud and traditional Sudanese music, and got a diploma from the music institute of Khartoum University. But my ambition was to develop something new. For this, the guitar seemed like the best instrument."
"Western instruments can approximate the scales of Sudanese music very well. After all, a lot of Western music is originally from Africa. I have absorbed different influences, from traditional Sudanese rhythms to calypso and jazz, and I hold them together in my music with no difficulty."
Sharhabeel's blending of Western and local music traditions for a new genre of live music evokes the era of Mohamed Abdel-Wahab, concerts in formal dress and a time before the lounge singer was regarded as an imitator. For Sharhabeel, the 50s represent a high point in Egyptian music. "I followed the renaissance led by Abdel-Wahab, Kamal El-Tawil, Ali Ismail, and later Abdel-Halim Hafez. They truly tried to advance Egyptian music and develop something new. But Western- style orchestration had a less lasting impact in Egypt than in Sudan. After many years, there is again a movement in that direction by Ammar El-Sheray'ei and Amr Diab, for instance, but Egyptian singers' links to traditional Eastern music are stronger and this has been a more dominant influence for them."
Sharhabeel maintains, nonetheless, that Sudanese music has a solid niche in Egypt. The intertwined histories of the two countries make this inevitable. "The Sudan Corner on Wadi Al-Nil radio was widely listened to because it was used for political purposes. That was an important channel for Sudanese music in Egypt. Now Sudan radio has expanded and we have satellite television channels, too. So Sudanese music is once again well-known, even stolen by Egyptian artists."
The Arab and African hybrid of Sharhabeel's music has brought him invitations to perform throughout East and Central Africa, as well as at European venues such as the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris. When queried about the irony of his being billed as an Arab musician, Sharhabeel simply shrugs and says that Sudan is a member of the Institut, substantially Arabic-speaking and Muslim. He will play wherever there is an audience. But he sets little store by identifying labels, and takes a quiet delight in confounding presumptions about Sudanese music. "European audiences had no idea there was modern Sudanese music," he recounts of one of his tours. "And they were astonished to see my wife, with her covered head, on stage with me and playing the guitar." She is Zakiya Abul-Gasim Abu Bakr, by her own account the first female guitarist in Sudan. Now their daughters Noha and Shahira and sons Ahmed and Mohamed perform with their father, too.
Perhaps a focus on folk traditions would have provided Sharhabeel with a more marketable genre identification on the world music market, but his distinctive style has won him a local following all the same. He has performed at the Roman Theatre in Alexandria and every summer since 2000 at the Open Air Theatre of the Cairo Opera House. His sophisticated dance music and stage presence have made inroads into some doggedly classical institutions. He has recently performed twice at El-Sawy Cultural Centre as well. Although Sharhabeel is guarded about the possibility of a wider audience for his music in Egypt, this is encouragement enough for the time being. It is proof, as well, that a non-conformist can become a classic.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
العنوان |
الكاتب |
Date |
الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | Kostawi | 08-16-04, 01:26 PM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | Kostawi | 08-16-04, 02:27 PM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | Adil Osman | 08-16-04, 02:58 PM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | mohammed alfadla | 08-16-04, 03:39 PM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | إيمان أحمد | 08-16-04, 05:20 PM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | عوض الله الفولانى | 08-17-04, 05:01 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | الجندرية | 08-18-04, 07:39 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | KOSTA | 08-18-04, 11:00 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | Kostawi | 08-19-04, 01:38 PM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | Kostawi | 08-19-04, 01:43 PM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | Kostawi | 08-19-04, 01:55 PM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | Kostawi | 08-20-04, 01:45 PM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | Kostawi | 08-20-04, 08:23 PM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | عبد الله بولا | 08-30-04, 06:07 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | Ibrahim Algrefwi | 08-30-04, 06:17 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | Nada Amin | 08-30-04, 06:22 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | kh_abboud | 08-30-04, 09:12 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | عبد الله بولا | 09-01-04, 01:59 PM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | بارعة | 09-01-04, 02:17 PM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | Elmosley | 09-02-04, 04:31 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | KOSTA | 09-02-04, 11:20 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | Elmosley | 09-03-04, 03:42 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | KOSTA | 09-05-04, 11:03 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | Kostawi | 09-09-04, 12:18 PM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | KOSTA | 09-10-04, 07:23 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | لؤى | 09-13-04, 02:12 PM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | لؤى | 09-13-04, 02:40 PM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | Kostawi | 09-13-04, 10:29 PM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | لؤى | 09-14-04, 02:59 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | الجندرية | 09-13-04, 10:40 PM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | لؤى | 09-14-04, 03:36 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | willeim andrea | 09-14-04, 03:31 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | عزيز | 09-14-04, 04:01 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | كبسيبة | 09-14-04, 03:50 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | Kostawi | 09-14-04, 05:43 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | Kostawi | 09-14-04, 05:51 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | Raja | 09-14-04, 05:57 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | لؤى | 09-14-04, 07:06 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | Kostawi | 09-14-04, 07:21 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | Raja | 09-14-04, 07:34 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | محمد الامين احمد | 09-14-04, 07:25 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | willeim andrea | 09-14-04, 08:11 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | لؤى | 09-15-04, 12:25 PM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | Kostawi | 09-15-04, 03:15 PM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | Kostawi | 09-15-04, 03:31 PM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | willeim andrea | 09-16-04, 02:46 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | Raja | 09-17-04, 01:58 PM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | Kostawi | 09-17-04, 02:58 PM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | Kostawi | 09-19-04, 11:18 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | لؤى | 09-23-04, 03:07 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | KOSTA | 10-10-04, 11:06 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | ismat.abdelrahman | 10-10-04, 01:46 PM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | Kabar | 10-10-04, 04:51 PM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | KOSTA | 10-12-04, 10:24 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | Kostawi | 10-12-04, 10:29 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | طلال عفيفي | 10-12-04, 10:57 AM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | لؤى | 10-17-04, 12:18 PM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | Kostawi | 10-17-04, 03:49 PM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | alsngaq | 10-17-04, 11:20 PM |
Re: الأستاذ و المسيقار شرحبيل أحمد | Kostawi | 11-29-04, 02:25 PM |
|
|
|