Al Balabil (musical group)

Al Balabil (Arabic:البلابل - The Nightingales) were a popular Sudanese vocal group, mainly active from the 1970s until 1988. Their popular songs and appearance as modern female performers on stage, as well as on Sudanese radio and television, earned them fame all over East Africa and beyond, and they were sometimes referred to as the “Sudanese Supremes”. After having retired from the stage and moving to the United States in 1988, they gave a revival concert in 2007 in New York City's Central Park, and later in Detroit and Chicago, as well as in their native Sudan.


Al Balabil
البلابل
NationalitySudanese
Musical career
GenresMusic of Sudan, African popular music
InstrumentsVocals
Years active1970s - 1988, 2007-2009

Personal background and artistic career
Cover of a record by Al Balabil

The group of the three sisters Amal, Hadia, and Hayat Talsam[1] began their career in late 1971. Having grown up in a neighbourhood of Greater Khartoum, they enjoyed the support of their parents; their father, Muhammad Abdul Majid Talsam, was a university professor. After a first period of singing in a Nubian folklore group, they were encouraged to form their own band by Sudanese musician and oud player Bashir Abbas, who later composed many of their songs.[2][3] The name for the trio was proposed by Sudanese novelist and poet Ali El-Makk.

The title track of their first album, called Those Who Ask Don’t Get Lost, refers to an Arabic saying that is encouraging people to ask questions. According to a magazine article entitled "Five Songs that defined Sudan's Golden Era", the lyrics tell the story of a lover’s anticipation: “If you cared to ask about me, you’d know where I am today / I’m still waiting for you. Have you forgotten that I invited you over?”[4]

Their song “The Boat Set Sail”, with lyrics in Nubian language, evokes the destructive effects of the Aswan Dam on the region of Nubia in southern Egypt and northern Sudan. The family of the three singers originally came from the Nubian city of Wadi Halfa, and this song talks about the flooding of a large part of Nubia and the displacement of its inhabitants.[5]

In 1988, shortly before strict Sharia laws were imposed in Sudan that stifled cultural life for the next 30 years,[6][7] the sisters and their families moved to the United States and stopped performing for a long time. In 2007, they appeared again on stage in New York City, the following year in Chicago and Detroit, and again in Sudan in August 2009.[8] This revival also saw the production of new recordings, like the Nubian song "Life is Beautiful". – During their career of rising popularity, they recorded many songs, published mostly in Sudan on vinyl records and music cassettes.[9]

Discography

See also

Notes and references
  1. "45 years later, this Sudanese girl band may get their world tour". Global Citizen. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  2. "Sudan: Khartoum Celebrates 80th Birthday of Music Composer Beshir Abbas". Allafrica.com. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  3. The picture in this article shows the cover of their song "Sikkat madrasatna" (The way to our school), composed by Bashir Abbas with lyrics by Isḥaq al-Ḥalanqi, a Sudanese poet.
  4. "Five songs that defined Sudan's golden era". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  5. The accompanying text for this song by the carefully edited series of Sudanese songs on YouTube, called The Sounds of Sudan, added this comment: "Built in 1960, the construction of the Aswan Dam in Egypt led to the flooding of many Nubian villages and heritage sites in south Egypt and north Sudan, displacing thousands. Perhaps most infamous of the flooded sites was the city of Halfa, a relatively developed city. Al-Balabil, who made this recording of the song, belong to the Halfawi tribe and were forced to migrate as children from Halfa to New Halfa in East Sudan."
  6. In January 1991, the government of Omar al-Bashir decreed that Islamic law would be applied in courts throughout the north of Sudan, but not in the south. The 1998 constitution specified that the source of law for Sudan was sharia and national consent through voting in addition to the constitution and custom.
  7. "Sudan scraps apostasy law and alcohol ban for non-Muslims". BBC News. 12 July 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  8. World Music Central News (19 June 2008). "Sudanese Music & Dance Festival 2008 Comes to Detroit and Chicago | World Music Central.org". Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  9. "البلابل". Discogs. Retrieved 30 January 2021.

Further reading
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