I have four albums from Nubia, which is a region that is the southern Egypt and northern Sudan. These albums are from Egyptians, but they are not Arabs, they are dark skinned people of the crossroads of Africa and the Middle East. The music has elements of both regions. It has the rhythms of Africa, but the melodies of the Middle East.

Of the four, the earliest album I have is 1971's Escalay (The Water Wheel). It is spare and contemplative, not at all like the other albums in the bunch. Primarily it is simply El Din's voice and oud (arabic lute). The title track, Escalay is a 21 minute piece on the experience of working an ox powered water wheel. To pump water, an ox is driven around a large screw to lift water from deep in the ground.

The music is hypnotic. It is also not like other oud players that I have heard. In contrast, I'm familiar with Rabih Abou-Khalil. Abou-Kahlil is blindingly quick, tending to very rapid single string runs. In contrast, El Din is more characterized by playing different patterns on different fingers. It reminds me of some early blues guitarists, players like Mississippi John Hurt, who played bass figures with their thumbs and melodies with the fingers. The liner notes put it this way:

While he plucks the bass strings continually in one rhythm, he hammers with the left hand on two strings, and uses alternatively the remaining strings to set the pattern of melody against the other rhythms. This creates a harmonic whole which describes perfectly in musical terms the hypnotic humming of the water wheel.

The point about harmony is interesting as African and Arabic music do not emphasise harmony, this is a European idea. El Din was educated as an engineer in Italy and seems to integrate harmony into his playing.

The next two are from Salamat: Mambo El Soudani and Salam Delta. Between the two, they are two of the most interesting albums I have heard in a while. In terms of tone, it reminds me of the cazed energy of some Balkan brass bands like Fanfare Ciocărlia. Everyone seems to be playing all-out, all of the time, over the top of each other, whatever. Only later, when I read the liner notes, did I notice that Macedonian gypsy musician Ferus Mustafov plays brass on a pair of tracks from Salam Delta.

In some sense, these albums are like finding a Rosetta Stone. It's all here. African polyrhythms. Gypsy abandon. Snakelike Arabian melodies. Algerian Rai singing. They all got together and are having a wild party. I have to say, I like these two albums a bunch, especially "Salam Delta".

The last album is From Nubia To Kairo. I am aware the album actually uses the spelling "Cairo", but last.fm has it as Kairo, so please direct complaints in their direction, not mine.

If Salamat is rustic, Ali Hassan Kuban is urban and sophisticated. The same elements are present, but the arrangements are different. Kuban takes these elements, and gives each one a place and a role. It's a bit like big band nubian in its approach. It's more likely that horns will be playing the same lines together to get a bigger sound, than playing separate parts a la Salamat. This stuff is sophisticated, catchy party music, frequently about romance and women. Rhythms remind me of afro-cuban styles and in a few places could be recycled as hip-hop. There is some fancy oud and horn playing as well. But make no mistake, this is about the songs, not a showcase for soloists.

All of these albums have their appeal. For me, I really dig Hamza El Din. I need to hear more. Salamat, too, really grabbed me. I'm not so sure about Ali Hassan Kuban. It's catchy, but I'm not terribly taken with highly regimented music in general. I much prefer the anarchic and improvisational to composed and planned. Kuban is I hink too much into the latter camp, although I'll revist him later and see if my opinion evolves.