Abdel Aziz el Mubarak
With his apparent fondness
for spangled jackets and polished love songs for the ladies, Abdel
Aziz el Mubarak sometimes comes across as the Bryan Ferry of Sudanese
music, albeit with a better voice. One of Sudan's great international
stars - and unlike others, a shrewd businessman - Abdel Aziz comes
from a family of musicians and was trained at Khartoum's famous
Institute of Music and Drama in the early 1970s. After successes
on the radio and television as early as 1975 he went on to become
one of the country's best known bandleaders.
From Wad Medani, Abdel Aziz el Mubarak was the first Sudanese artist to play WOMAD, at Glastonbury in 1988, with a dozen musicians romantically resplendent in long white jellabiyas. Next day they appeared at London's Jubilee Gardens wearing tuxedos. His love songs are songs of the city.