#4513, Hamza El Din, Live In-Studio, 1992

Hamza El Din (1929-2006), was a master of the oud, a vocalist, and played tar (frame drum). An emissary of Nubian music and culture, El Din both created new classical music and was a collector of music, preserving the melodies, songs and rhythms of his people and sharing them as widely as possible. [The kingdom of Nubia is now underwater in Southern Egypt and Northern Sudan, flooded by the Aswan Dam.]

El Din studied classical guitar and Western classical forms in Rome on a fellowship, and "began his life's work, a synthesis of Arabic, Nubian and Western music," (Amoeba.com.) He later taught several generations of musicians how to play oud, both in various locations in the United States (during the 1990’s at Mills College), and during extended residencies in Japan where he explored connections between the oud and the Japanese Biwa and Chinese pipa. In addition to his own long history of solo recordings, Hamza El Din also collaborated and performed with Kronos Quartet, Mickey Hart, the Grateful Dead (at the Pyramids in Giza), as well as with taiko drummers in Japan, (Amoeba.com, AllMusic.com).

For this New Sounds, hear a 1992 in-studio performance and interview from the Archives by the late Egyptian Nubian composer, oud player, tar player, and vocalist, Hamza El Din. - Caryn Havlik

#4513, Hamza El Din, Live On Around New York, 1992 (First Aired 7/08/2021)

ARTIST: Kronos Quartet, with Hamza El Din
WORK: Hamza El Din: Escalay (The Water Wheel) [1:00]
RECORDING: Pieces of Africa
SOURCE:  Nonesuch 79275
INFO: nonesuch.com/albums/pieces-africa

ARTIST: Hamza El Din
WORK: Mwashah (Lamma Bada) [3:41]
RECORDING: Eclipse
SOURCE: Mickey Hart Collection
INFO: folkways.si.edu

ARTIST: Hamza El Din
WORK: Hamza El Din: Escalay (The Water Wheel) [9:45]
RECORDING: Live at WNYC, November 1992
SOURCE: This performance not comercially available
INFO: amoeba.com/hamza-el-din/artist/116143/bio

ARTIST: Hamza El Din
WORK: Hamayalla [2:45]
RECORDING: Live at WNYC, November 1992
SOURCE: This performance not comercially available
INFO: amoeba.com/hamza-el-din/artist/116143/bio

ARTIST: Hamza El Din
WORK: Believe [4:52]
RECORDING: Live at WNYC, November 1992
SOURCE: This performance not comercially available
INFO: allmusic.com/artist/hamza-el-din

ARTIST: Kronos Quartet, with Hamza El Din
WORK: Hamza El Din: Escalay (The Water Wheel) [12:18]
RECORDING: Pieces of Africa
SOURCE: Nonesuch 79275
INFO: nonesuch.com/albums/pieces-africa

ARTIST: Kronos Quartet
WORK: Dumisani Maraire: Mai Nozipo [:39]
RECORDING: Pieces of Africa
SOURCE: Nonesuch 79275
INFO: nonesuch.com/albums/pieces-africa