Name: Al Oud
Brand: Hamza El Din

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

LP-RGM-1540C

Colour

Clear

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: Yes

Format detail

Format Music US

Limited edition

Release date

2023-08-04

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier US

Redeye

Tax rate US

Sales:8.875

UPC / Barcode

848064015406

Total Cap

Clear LP

Artist

Hamza El Din

Genre US

African

Label US

Real Gone Music

<p>Hamza El Din (July 10, 1929 – May 22, 2006) was a Nubian Egyptian composer, vocalist, and a master of the oud, the Arabic precursor of the lute, and the tar, the single-skinned drum that originated in Nubia. He shared his expertise by teaching ethnomusicology in various institutions across the United States during the 1980s and 1990s.</p>

It’s fair to say that what Ravi Shankar did for the sitar, Hamza El Din did for the oud (the short-necked Arabian lute): bringing a little-known instrument to the attention of the West and popularizing it. Indeed, he ended up playing oud with everybody from the Grateful Dead to the Kronos Quartet to his one-time roommate Sandy Bull. But El Din’s gifts went beyond that of an oud virtuoso; he was also an accomplished singer and composer, and you will hear all of those talents on full display on this seminal album, released on Vanguard in 1965 soon after his star-making appearance at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival that attracted the attention of Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. Meditative, mesmerizing, and haunting, Al Oud features nine original compositions based on Nubian folk traditions; at first it’s the exotic sound of the oud that draws you in, but it’s the rhythmic pulse of the music and the expressive quality of El Din’s voice that keeps you riveted. Our first-ever American LP reissue of this classic record comes in a clear vinyl pressing limited to 900 copies, complete with original artwork featuring liner notes by Jamal Mohammed Ahmed, at the time Sudan’s Ambassador to the United Nations. A richly rewarding listen.

Al Oud

Music US