The oud has over the years come to be one of my favourite instruments. I discovered it first through the music of Anouar Brahem and of Dhaffer Youssef, both North African, both jazz musicians, though very different in their approach.  And through them I came to discover a whole new world of music, one that can be both joyous and sublimely beautiful. The oud is a fretless, pear-shaped, lute-like instrument whose origins go back several thousand years. (There is a […]

Categories: Culture & Books • Tags: adel shams el-din, anouar brahem, chafer youssef, driss el maloumi, hussein mohamed, jazz, munir bashir, music, naseer shamma, oud, rehab azar, said chraibi, tarek abdallah