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All Reviews >>

All Things Considered Host: During the first half of this century, the Egyptian government constructed a system of dams on the Upper Nile, and flooded most of the Nubian people out of their ancestral homes. Nubian master musician Hamza El Din has lived in the US since the 1960s. But he's never stopped playing the music associated with his homeland. His new CD is called A Wish. Banning Eyre has a review.

Banning Eyre: They call Hamza El Din the Father of Nubian Music, and since Nubians are a people without a place, all his years in San Francisco have not compromised that reputation. Hamza has rubbed shoulders and collaborated with American folk, rock, jazz, and classical musicians for decades now, but his own recordings have remained spare, elegant solo performances on tar, a frame drum, voice, and especially, the oud, ancestor of the lute and the guitar. For this new CD, Hamza makes a departure by inviting some friends to join him on a few tracks. Japanese vocalist Shizuru Ohtaka adds haunting harmonies to Hamza's trademark sound on the song "Greetings."

For me, Hamza is one of those musicians who can do no wrong. I could listen to his clear, velvety oud meditations forever. But it is nice to hear him branching out. This CD's title, A Wish, alludes to the fact that the Egyptian government is now developing land not far from Hamza's long flooded village, Toshka. On the CD title track, Hamza brings together a diverse group of players to express his hope that Nubians might return to something like their lost past. Music this beautiful makes you think such miracles are possible.