Igd al-Jalad (music group)


Igd al-Jalād, is a popular Sudanese music group. It was founded in the 1980s, comprising several singers and instrumentalists and has been active with new members since then. The group became famous both because of their musical compositions, as well as their use of lyrics by Sudanese and other Arab poets, such as Mahjoub Sharif.
The group's name means "Necklace of Jalād", which refers to a special kind of leather with a lovely scent, possibly from the skin of a deer or a wild cat. The founder of the group, composer and musician Osman al-Naw included a rather large number of male and female musicians, which allowed the band to use both a range of modern instruments, as well as lead singers and a chorus. In 1988, the group appeared in a live concert on Sudanese TV that started its growing popularity in Sudan and with Sudanese audiences abroad. Because of their use of well-known poems and other lyrics that express both patriotic views and are understood as indirect criticism of the political situation, some of their concerts were interrupted by police and members taken into custody.
In 1995, the German record label Popular African Music released their CD Madaris, and other music cassettes or CDs have been available in Sudan. All through the period of disencouragement of public musical activities by the military government and the imposition of Sharia laws since the late 1980s, Igd al-Jalād have been re-inventing their line-up by including younger musicians and composed new songs, making it one of Sudan's most long-standing and popular music bands.

Discography