Skip to main content

Sudan: Music of the Blue Nile Province - The Ingessana and Berta Tribes

Various Artists
Sudan: Music of the Blue Nile Province - The Ingessana and Berta Tribes

These field recordings, made by Robert Gottlieb in November and December 1980, are of the Ingessana and Berta peoples in Sudan’s Blue Nile Province. Though both groups inhabit the same geographical area, they are culturally very different. Berta, the largest tribal group in the region, are an Arabicized culture, as evidenced by their dress, social customs, and musical instruments such as the rebab, a type of fiddle. The recordings on this collection include a 12-waza (gourd trumpet) ensemble of the Madbis clan and a 16-bulhu (end-blown vertical flute) ensemble of the Fagwaji clan.

The Ingessana tribe for the most part did not adapt the Islamic faith of other area tribes and retained their traditional music practices. There are four major groups of Ingessana, each with their own dialect, but only two, the Kuluk and Tabi, are represented in this collection. Bal bamboo flutes and janger, a type of lyre, are common among all Ingessana groups, but the repertoire differs by clan.

Extensive, illustrated liner notes written by Gottlieb accompany the recording. Gottlieb also recorded the music of the Gumuz people on UNES08072 (Sudan: Music of the Blue Nile Province—The Gumuz Tribe).

Track Listing

icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
101
Ceremonial Dance-Songs Meroel Village, Ingessana Tribe 08:04
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
102
Solo songs with lyre accompaniment Meroel Village, Ingessana Tribe 01:06
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
103
Solo songs with lyre accompaniment Doogus Idris of Bau Village and janger player, Ingessana Tribe 08:05
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
104
Kamdin. Bal-Ensemble Bau Village, Ingessana Tribe 01:54
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
105
Kogder. Bal-Ensemble Bau Village, Ingessana Tribe 02:39
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
106
Jen Anatai. Bal-Ensemble Bau Village, Ingessana Tribe 02:12
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
107
Al Shammasha. Waza-Ensemble Sayid Abdul Rahman and his group, Madbis clan, Ganis Village, Berta Tribe 02:04
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
108
Sozea Gaita. Waza-Ensemble Sayid Abdul Rahman and his group, Madbis clan, Ganis Village, Berta Tribe 01:17
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
109
Wadaberi. Waza-Ensemble Sayid Abdul Rahman and his group, Madbis clan, Ganis Village, Berta Tribe 01:25
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
110
Afinandigi. Waza-Ensemble Sayid Abdul Rahman and his group, Madbis clan, Ganis Village, Berta Tribe 01:23
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
111
Gundi Aja. Waza-Ensemble Sayid Abdul Rahman and his group, Madbis clan, Ganis Village, Berta Tribe 01:11
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
112
Abba Musa. Waza-Ensemble Sayid Abdul Rahman and his group, Madbis clan, Ganis Village, Berta Tribe 01:21
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
113
Adodo. Waza-Ensemble Sayid Abdul Rahman and his group, Madbis clan, Ganis Village, Berta Tribe 00:58
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
114
Ya Musa. Waza-Ensemble Sayid Abdul Rahman and his group, Madbis clan, Ganis Village, Berta Tribe 01:47
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
115
Watana Numeiry. Bulhu-Ensemble Abdullah Razig Saad and his group, Fagwaji clan, Ganis Village, Berta Tribe 01:22
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
116
Watana Numeiry. Bulhu-Ensemble Abdullah Razig Saad and his group, Fagwaji clan, Ganis Village, Berta Tribe 03:37
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
117
Bulhu Scale Abdullah Razig Saad and his group, Fagwaji clan, Ganis Village, Berta Tribe 00:31
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
118
Ania. Bulhu-Ensemble Abdullah Razig Saad and his group, Fagwaji clan, Ganis Village, Berta Tribe 03:30
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
119
Aferi. Bulhu-Ensemble Abdullah Razig Saad and his group, Fagwaji clan, Ganis Village, Berta Tribe 03:05