(1929-2006)

Performing brilliantly on the Oud (the precursor of the lute, pipa and biwa) and the Tar (the ancient single-skinned drum of the upper Nile), along with haunting voice and spellbinding compositions, Hamza el Din combined the pleasures and subtleties of Arabic music with his indigenous music of his native Nubia. In his masterful hands, the oud became a virtuoso instrument as well an accompaniment to his gentle and hypnotic singing. He single handedly created a new music, essentially a Nubian-Arabic fusion, but one in line with both traditions and informed by Western conservatory training. His music has captured the interest of millions of listeners from Europe, Japan and North America.

First discovered by Western audiences through his performance at the Newport Folk Festival and Vanguard recordings in 1964, his 1970 Nonesuch recording, Escalay: The Water Wheel is legendary among musicians and connoisseurs. His best known recording in the U.S is Eclipses, produced and engineered by Grateful Dead percussionist Mickey Hart. Hamza's music has also appeared in movie soundtracks such as the Francis Coppola film Black Stallion, You Are What You Eat and the Robinson's Garden of Japan. His latest releases (on Japanese labels) include: Nubiana Suite "Live in Tokyo", a King recording Songs of the Nile (on the JVC World Sounds series), and a re-release of Journey, a companion to his best-selling album of the same title, (Nile no Nagareno Yoni) Chikuma Shobo Publishing, Tokyo, Japan. Hamza appeared regularly with the Kronos Quartet, which includes Escalay: the Water Wheel on their chart-topping Pieces of Africa album (Elektra/ Nonesuch, 1992).

Hamza el Din was born in Nubia, along the Nile River near the southern Egyptian border (Aswan). He grew up in a culture rich in melodious and rhythmic music. While studying engineering in Cairo, he took up the oud, a principal instrument of Arabic classical music. Later, while holding down full-time jobs, he began studying music formally at the Conservatory of music in Cairo. During this time and during subsequent study at the Academy of St. Cicelia in Rome, his work began to combine elements of Nubian and Egyptian traditional music within formal structures. In 1964, he made his first recording, Music of Nubia, for Vanguard Recordings. In the same year, he embarked on his first concert tour of the United States. Since then, he traveled, performed and taught music in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. In 1981 he went to Japan to make a comparative study of Biwa and Oud (funded by a Japan Foundation grant). Impressed with the country and its peoples, he performed there frequently. Until his death on May 22, 2006, in Berkeley, California, from a gall bladder infection, he resided in the Bay Area and continued to play, teach and record his music around the world.