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Ahmed Mounib
is an authentic voice from Nubia. The region, known as the golden
land, used to span from Aswan, in upper Egypt, into the northern
part of Sudan. Its ochre-colored sand and magnificent sunsets
viewed from the banks of the Nile endowed the handsome and genuinely
friendly people with an innate artistic sensitivity. By nature,
the Nubian way of life is musically rich in the expression and
rhythms of everyday life. There are songs for birthdays, deaths,
weddings, harvests, the seasons, all the sensory experiences.
As a young child,
thirsting for the nourishment of his native culture, he drank
in the warm feelings and easy-going tempo of his people from
the water wells of his Nubian village. Mounib introduced us to
his culture's tears and joys, and along the way introduced a
generation of Egyptian singers and music lovers to a thinking,
honest, and dance-able music.
His genius was
in marrying the traditional rhythms and music of Nubia to an
Oriental sound, hitting the music scene in Cairo with a promise
to be something different in an era of music doldrums. In the
70's and 80's, it was Ahmed Mounib's music that breathed fresh
energy into Egyptian hearts.
In the last decade
of his life, Ahmed Mounib began to record his own music, and
a new love affair with Egyptians of all ages began. After his
untimely death in 1990, his sons formed a music publishing company
to produce previously unreleased music.
The newest album
from Mounib Music, Esma Wi Naseeb, has an intimate, very
personal quality. Perhaps because the music was not recorded
in a studio, but in Mounib's home, surrounded by friends and
family -- the listener has a sense of being in the same room
with the artist.
Chronology
of Events
1926
Born 4 January in the Nubian village of Thomas Wa Afiya, a region
stretching between Esna and Kom Ombo in upper Egypt which was
a resettlement community created by the Egyptian government for
the Nubian people displaced by the permanent flooding of their
homeland as a result of the Nile High Dam at Aswan.
1929
The family moved to Alexandria, where he spent his youth.
1945
In Alexandria, he formed his first group and began his career
as a musician playing and singing for private parties.
1948
At the age of 22, he returned to his village, Thomas Wa Afiya,
to immerse himself in his native culture. He stayed there for
4 years.
1951
Moved to Cairo and lived in the Nubian neighborhood of Abdeen.
He opened a small bookshop, but got bored with being a merchant.
Joined the folk music group Zachiraya Hagawi.
1954
Formed the Mounib Group, the first pure Nubian sound to hit the
Cairo music circuit, while working in a bank to support his family.
1963
His music began to reach a broader audience through the Egyptian
Radio Broadcast program Minwahee el Ganoub. Every Thursday afternoon
at
4 pm, Nubians sat by their radios and heard their music, their
language. Collaborating with the music historian and poet, Mohi
El Din Sherif, who had the idea to use Nubian folk songs as a
basis to introduce the music of his culture, Ahmed Mounib looked
at music trends, and translated El Din Sherif's ideas into an
accessible, popular music form.
1965
Mounib and El Din Sherif, along with Hamza El Din, created a
NGO, the Nubian Union. They made parties for the Nubian community,
and for the first time, added an oriental dimension to Nubian
music, to make the new sound familiar to Egyptian tastes.
1975
Begins writing music
for Mohamed Mounir, then an unknown singer, with lyricist Abdel
Rehim Monsour.
1977
Mounir album Alimouny Anik is released. Requests
for new compositions from song writers and young singers came
pouring in.
1990
Died 27 February in Cairo, Egypt
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