And we trundle on. We have crossed over the northern border of South Sudan into Sudan. When is was still a single country before the South gained independence in 2011 Sudan was the largest country in Africa. Even now it is third in size behind only Algeria and DR Congo. We are talking BIG.
Like its regional neighbours Ethiopia and Somalia, Sudan had a thriving music scene in the 1960s and 1970s which came to an end when the ruling regime banned fun and targeted musicians. In Sudan itself this process began in the early 1980s but the full effect was not felt until the introduction of Sharia law by President al-Bashir in 1989.
Things seem to have loosened up in recent years following al-Bashir's overthrow in 2019. The only Sudanese music recorded during that thirty year period was in exile, and we will finish off with one such example. Before that we have four tracks from the golden age and two from the groovy new scene.
We will start with a couple of selections from an excellent compilation called "Two Niles To Sing A Melody", released on the Ostinato label in 2018. It is worth having any form but the CD comes with an informative booklet which describes the history of the golden age (and how it came to an end) and includes interviews with some of the featured musicians.
First up is the man considered to be the biggest musical star Sudan ever produced, Mohammed Wardi. Born in small village near the border with Egypt in 1932, he moved to Khartoum in the mid 1950s where he began his recording and performing career.
Mr Wardi went into exile in 1989 but returned home in 2002 where he remained until his death ten years later. This particular song, the title of which means "The Photo" in English, was recorded in 1970 and clocks in at just over nine minutes.
The other chosen track from "Two Niles To Sing A Melody" also dates from 1970. The title translates as "We Don't Know What To Say", which is appropriate as I don't know what to say about the man who performs it. I have found no information about Taj Makki, who doesn't even get a paragraph in the booklet. But the aural evidence suggests he knew how to knock out a cracking tune.
For our next two treats we move across to the ever reliable Habibi Funk label. And what treats they are. The first comes from Sharhabil Ahmed who according to the title the label has given to their collection of his vintage recordings is "The King of Sudanese Jazz". I am in no position to contradict them. Mr Ahmed was born a couple of years after Mohammed Wardi and their careers have some parallels, although Mr Ahmed never left Sudan and made his living as an illustrator during the prohibition.
Sharhabil Ahmed's wife Zakia Abu Gassim Abu Bakr played in his band and was Sudan's first professional female guitarist. I don't know whether she is any relation to Saif Abu Bakr, the singer with our next act The Scorpions. I could have asked him myself on Saturday just gone when he played up the road in Hackney. Unfortunately the first I knew about it was when I Googled him for this post on Sunday. So I just had to content myself with listening to their great 1980s album "Jazz, Jazz, Jazz".
Forward in time to the present day, but back to the excellent Ostinato label who are responsible for both the featured releases. In 2022 they brought us "Beja Power! Electric Soul & Brass from Sudan's Red Sea Coast" by Noori & His Dorpa Band, and followed it up last year with Jantra's "Synthesized Sudan: Astro-Nubian Electronic Jaglara Dance Sounds from the Fashaga Underground". They do like their long titles at Ostinato.
You can read all about Noori, his band and the history and culture of the Beja people here. As for Jantra he apparently "cuts a mysterious figure, a rather unknown quantity even in Sudan, outside of the select few circles which have granted him cult status to perform at their humble gatherings or at street parties far from the gaze of the wider world". But if you happen to find yourself in one of the towns near the Sudan-Ethiopia border keep your eyes peeled for a man with a blue Yamaha keyboard, that might be him.
Finally in the MAR slot we have one of the exiles I mentioned back at the start. Rasha (Rasha Sheikh Eldin to give her her full name) is a musician and actress from Omdurman who emigrated to Spain in the early 1990s. This jaunty little number comes from her album "Let Me Be", released in 2000.
We also have some recent MAR in the final video. The first three videos hail from the golden age and what they lack in high visual quality they more than make up for in charm.
"Al Sourah" - Mohammed Wardi
"Ma Aarfeen Nagool Shino!" - Taj Makki
"Argos Farfish" - Sharhabil Ahmed
"Forssa Saeeda" - The Scorpions & Saif Abu Bakr
"Al Amal" - Noori & His Dorpa Band
"Gedima" - Jantra
"Afta'h Albab" - Rasha
The Mohammed Wardi track is absolutely toptastic.
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