Kamal Keila

Muslims and Christians

Habib Funk 008

This album is killer.

I bought this particular record totally on a whim. I was at Amoeba Records in Hollywood one day looking through vinyl as I am wont to do.  They had this album on display.  I picked it off the shelf and sort of hefted it in my hands.  Double LP no less.  I gazed at the cover photo longingly.  Seriously folks, how can an album with a cover this great not be good?

The people at Habibi Funk call this Sudanese Jazz.

I call it murder.

Taken from the Habibi Funk web page:

"Kamal Keila was a name that came up here and there, coined the James Brown or Fela Kuti of Sudan.  When I asked Yassir about him he said that he has extended family ties with him and that he could set up a meeting. We spent an afternoon in Kamal's living room somewhere in the dusty outskirts of Khartoum.  His small house, where he lives with his sons and their families, is located on a little side street. In the tiny garden area he has a number of empty pigeon cages, a testament of one of his hobbies he actively followed until some years ago.  Kamal doesn't know his exact age but was born sometime in the early 1940s and as much as his age shows when he's moving around in his house he still lights up full of energy when reminiscing about his music.

In our conversation it turned out that even though his career seriously started in the 1960s he had never released a record on vinyl and that, apart from one album which still remains to be found, he can't remember about a cassette release either.  He did however record sessions for Sudanese radio.  In Sudan the radio stations were not allowed to play the recordings produced by music labels on air, therefore they had their own studios and invited musicians to record music for their program.  In most cases the musicians would not receive a copy of the recordings out of fear that they would release the music themselves.  But luckily Kamal Keila had gotten his hands on two sessions and had kept those two studio reels all these years.  Both tapes were in the most horrible condition with mold everywhere and obvious signs that they had gotten very wet at some point.  Much to our surprise they played very well.  Each tape included five tracks.  One with English lyrics and another with Arabic ones.  Musically you can hear the influence of neighboring Ethiopia much more than on other Sudanese recordings of the time, as well as references to Fela and American funk and soul.  His lyrics at least when he sings in English which indicates more freedom from censorship, are very political.  A brave statement in the political climate of Sudan of the last decades, preaching for the unity of Sudan, peace between Muslims and Christians and singing the blues about the fate of war orphans called "Shmasha"

Indeed