The Oud at the Junction of the Nile (2017)
“The oud is commonly associated with musical cultures of the Middle East, but is it also an African instrument? Does the instrument represent a bridge between the Arab world and civilization south of the Sahara? Meditations on such questions occurred during the Second Khartoum Festival for the oud that took place this past February. The three day event was sponsored by the DAL group, a private Sudanese industrial conglomerate, and its goal was to create greater awareness about Sudanese contributions to the oud while hosting other oud players from the Arab world and the United States, which I myself was representing. The festival also hosted famous Iraqi oud player Nasseer Shamma, who brought along his band Global, featuring players from Brazil, Europe, and the United States.”
