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Sudanese Musicians Demonstrate Unity in Chicago
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Jul 16, 2008 - 12:42:57 PM

Millennium Park, July 10, 2008
Review and photographs by Banning Eyre

In its second year, the Sudan Festival of Music and Dance continues to deliver on its inspirational vision of presenting an artistic image of Sudan that contrasts with the political one.  Where the country�s leaders are divided, these artists are unified.  On July 10, despite rain and other adverse circumstances�given the sad state of Sudan, how could it be otherwise?�33 artists took the stage at Millennium Park in Chicago and together played music from the north, west, east, center, and south of this tragically divided nation.  The music was expansive and varied, however the eight featured singers were all backed by a single orchestra, itself a symbol of the unity that is possible for Sudan.  The festival moves on to Detroit�s Concert of Colors on July 19.  Click here for more details.

That orchestra was assembled especially for the Chicago and Detroit events under the direction of Yousif Elmosley, affectionately described as the �Quincy Jones of Sudan.�  In fact, Sudan�s music scene is so badly divided and dispersed around the world that no figure could really have the breadth, power and influence of a Quincy Jones.  And that�s exactly the point.  What was so moving about the Chicago performance was the way it dispensed with the tangled and troubled knot of complications that is Sudan and for a brief, satisfying two hours, gave us a taste of the Sudan that could be.  As one of the festival�s key organizers, Doctor Mutwakil Mahmoud, put it, �Sudan is the largest country in Africa, almost a million square miles, 300 or 400 ethnic groups, more than 500 dialects, a country where Arabs and Africans have come together.  But even after independence, we were never a nation�  We are struggling to become a nation.� 

About those adverse circumstances, it must be noted that three headliners, Abdel Gadir Salim, Abu Araki Albakheit and Rasha, did not appear, apparently due to visa holdups.  (With no U.S. embassy in Khartoum, the already complicated process of acquiring a performance visa becomes even more difficult for Sudan-based artists, as everything has to be processed through Cairo.)  The good news is that those who did arrive performed fabulously, and they represented enough regional, stylistic, and generational diversity to fulfill the overall mission of the festival. 

First up was Elmosley himself, who sang two elegant songs with the orchestra.  The second of these, �Al Shog,� has a jaunty beat and playful melody that gets right to the heart of the hybrid sound that developed in Khartoum and its sister city of Omdurman during the 60s and 70s, often called the �golden era of Sudanese music.�  It�s a delightful combination of European, Arab, and African instrumentation, melody and rhythm, at once elevated and funky�purely Sudanese.  Elmosley�s storied career actually start later, in the 1980s.  After the 1989 coup, which brought Sudan�s oppressive Islamist government to power, Elmosley moved his operation to Cairo, and later the United States.  Reunited with collaborators from a long career, he sang with sweetness and gusto, and as he did so, the rain that had been falling subsided.  The sun appeared, and people began to fill the vast lawn before the Millennium Park stage. 

Next came a young singer from the east of Sudan, Mohamed Adaroab.  With winning smile and supple voice, Adaroab began with solo vocal melisma before the orchestra joined him in melodious accompaniment.  If his vocal ornamentations suggested hints of Ethiopian popular music, no surprise.  As he pointed out, in the east of Sudan, Ethiopia is just next door.  Adaroab proved an engaging stage presence, and as he sang, Sudanese women in traditional dress gathered before the stage, raising their hands to greet him.

Omar Banaga Amir followed, dressed in a brown robe, carrying a ceremonial cane, and exhorting the audience to sing with him as he roamed the stage with regal air.  Amir is a veteran of one of Sudan�s most popular and significant 1990s bands, Igd Al Djilad, revered for their socially conscious lyrics and inventive interpretations of folklore.  When Amir sang �Geneni,� he touched the nerve he was looking for, as the many Sudanese seated in the front section raised their voices to back him. 

Ali Alsigeid was next, bringing in the classic sound of the �golden era.�  His voice is clear and precise, and his music complex, a fascinating blend of semi-classical formalism and African pop spirit.  The music of Elmosley, Amir, and Alsigeid represented what has historically been the dominant sound of Sudan�s modern music, characterized by melodic complexity and poised composure.  Now it was time to move beyond the center of Sudan, and for Elmosley�s orchestra to venture into less familiar terrain. 

At a public forum with the artists the night before the performance, the audience included a number of members of a local Sudanese community organization, most of them so called �lost boys,� refugees from Sudan�s long civil war in the south.  Many of the lost boys are from the Dinka tribe, characteristically tall people, although none so much as their most famous spokesman, former NBA star Manute Bol, who stands seven-foot-seven.  Bol came to Chicago especially to lend his support to the festival, and spoke movingly of his friendship with Sudanese musicians, notably the singing sisters of Al Balabil.  During the forum, however, one man asked why there were not more southern Sudanese musicians in the program.  The answer is complicated.  No less than four southern singers were approached, and various problems prevented most of them from appearing.  For one thing, it is very difficult to communicate with the south.  The infrastructure there is less developed�no accident�and of course, it is that much harder for these artists to make the journey north to Cairo for a visa. 

The end result of all this is that the task of representing southern Sudan in this year�s festival fell to a young singer who goes by the stage name Dynamq, �the Sudanese child.�  Though little known so far, Dynamq proved a shrewd choice.  His performance culminated in a political reggae song called �Inner City War.�  It was great to hear the orchestra stretching to play melodic fills on a reggae song, but better still was Dynamq�s remarkable stage presence.  He sings in a warm, smooth voice, capable of punching out volume when needed.  Dynamq used to play keyboard for reggae singer Eek-A-Mouse, and he had learned things about revving up a crowd that his more urbane cohorts from Khartoum never did.  Dynamq charged around the stage, exhorted the audience to chant �Sudan, Sudan!� and brought the mood to pitch of excitement. 

As he did so, the weather turned vicious with thunder, lightning, and driving rain.  The less hearty fled for cover, but many, including virtually all the Sudanese, crowded into the sheltered region before the stage, where they stood, waved, sang and cheered.  One of the musicians later said it reminded him of a Khartoum street party.  He could actually spot subgroupings of people, like members of particular neighborhoods, clustering together in the crowd. 

In this setting, the great Omer Ihsas of Darfur took the stage, resplendent in white gown and cap.  This is an amazing singer and composer who in the 1990s brought the rhythms of Darfur�many of them 6/8 and 12/8 variants, closer to the music of central and west Africa�into the mainstream mix of Sudanese music.  These days, Ihsas still lives in Khartoum, and regularly visits refugee camps in Darfur to sing and give away cassettes of his inspiring music, always aimed at fostering unity and peace.  To speak with Ihsas is to hear many sad and discouraging tales, but when he takes the stage, he becomes a figure of hope and uplift, sweeping across the stage, revving the orchestra up with his powerful rhythms and singing with a passion that makes you believe things might one day be alright in Darfur, and Sudan, after all. 

Contributed by: Banning Eyre

the source

http://www.afropop.org/multi/feature/ID/826/Sudan%20Festaival%20of%20Music%20and%20Dance%20in%20Chicago:%20Review%20and%20photos