The Sudan Handbook

a shoRt histoRy of sudanEsE PoPulaR musiC 251

bands introduced a new, important element in Sudanese music, namely

stage dancing and the participation of audiences. One of the pioneers of

this style was Sharhabil Ahmad, who is considered today as the doyen

of ‘Sudanese jazz’. His successors included the members of Firqat Jazz

al-Dium, which was founded in the Khartoum Deims by Omar Abdu, a

Sudanese of West African origin, and his siblings, who sang in both local

Sudanese Arabic and Hausa language.

Southern Sudanese musicians sang in either local languages or in ‘Juba

Arabic’, a distinctive Arabic spoken in the southern capital and elsewhere

in southern Sudan. One of the most famous southern artists whose songs

became popular in northern Sudan was the late Yusuf Fetaki. There was

also a saxophone player named Aballa Deng, a man of Dinka origin who

was a member of the Sudan Railways Police, stationed in Atbara, and

who later joined the radio and television orchestra.

An institution that played a vital role in the development of the

Sudanese music was the Institute of Music and Drama, established in

the late 1960s. The institute provided hundreds of students with a post-

secondary training in music, drama and folklore. The institute also made

considerable efforts to shed light on the musical traditions of various

Sudanese communities in the rural areas. Radio Omdurman had played

a key role in popularizing Sudanese urban music in the rural areas; the

1970s saw an opposite trend – the introduction of music from the rural

areas into the capital. This period saw an explosion of in what came to be

known as ‘Kordofanian music’, thanks to the efforts of such performers

as Abdel Qadir Salim, Ibrahim Musa Abba, and Saidiq Abbas. A similar

role was played in recent years by Omar Ihsas, who introduced musical

styles from Darfur into the capital.

Recent Trends

Sudan’s recent history of war and famine has had its impact on music

and other aspects of urban popular culture. Huge numbers of displaced

people and immigrants from southern and western Sudan now live in

The Sudan Handbook, edited by John Ryle, Justin Willis, Suliman Baldo and Jok Madut Jok. © 2011 Rift Valley Institute and contributors Greater Khartoum, most of them non-Arabs. They have developed new

(www.riftvalley.net).