SOAS concert: "Sudanese Roots Meet Global Inspiration"

Sudanese music. I thought it sounded interesting, though I had no idea what it was. So I went to Thursday's free concert at SOAS ready for an ethnographic experience. What I found was extraordinary. Amira Kheir, a former SOAS student, has a fantastic voice, inspired she says by traditional Sudanese singing, such as the song "Shoft Alnur" based on Sufi devotionals. Two pieces also featured a guest dancer, who remains anonymous to me for reasons detailed below.

Amira Kheir in concert at SOAS
8 March 2012

Amira was backed by a unique combination of western and traditional instruments played by some former SOAS co-students and friends – none of whom looked Sudanese at all. The international mix was revealed by their names: double bass played by Shin Ichiro Abe, acoustic guitar by Iain Macleod, traditional flutes and djembe by Mauricio Velasierra, and a whole series of interesting drums and bells by Elizabeth Nott. Amira describes her band as a blend of jazz, soul, African as well as Middle Eastern music – the musics she grew up with. My overarching impression was of lyrical jazz backing soulful Sudanese songs, many written by herself.

Amira revels in this global melting pot, and uses herself as an example: if anyone should have an identity crisis, it should be her, with a Burundi father, Indonesian mother, French grandmother, and Native American input further up. She labels herself Sudanese-Italian and is a confirmed feminist, apparent in her success by doing rather than just talking. She did talk, though, and congratulated all the women in the audience on International Women's Day, instructing us not to be told by any man, family members or cultural rules how to act out our lives.

Amir Kheir's so-called "South American percussion section"

When you go to a concert of unknown music, what do you expect? I would have liked to have had a programme that listed the songs, players and instruments. Without that, I came away happy but ignorant. It is also one thing to listen to songs in a language you can't understand, but doubly frustrating to not even know what language it is. So in the end, I had to buy a CD to get most of this information (not the dancer's name or language, though) – not grudgingly, mind you, but enthusiastically, as I really enjoyed the concert and will again and again.

CD: Amira Kheir, "View from Somewhere". Contro Cultura Music, 2011. Akcent Media Limited.