The musician Sharhabil Ahmed is celebrated through a compilation of his tracks and archives entitled The King Of Sudanese Jazz via the Habibi Funk label on July 10th.
A pioneer of Sudanese jazz in the early 60s, Sharhabil Ahmed modernised Sudanese music by mixing Western influences and instruments with those of his culture: “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“
The Habibi Funk label headed by Jannis Stürtz has therefore gathered the work of this king of Sudanese jazz to make a special collection. His sound is described by the label : “Sharhabil’s sound feels more like a unique combination of surf rock, funk, Congolese music and East African harmonies“. With seven tracks, the album is a beautiful tribute to this icon of Sudanese music.
The King Of Sudanese will be released on July 10th on the Habibi Funk label. Check out the cover artwork above and pre-order it here.
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