If I had any ability as a musician, my instrument of choice to play would be the oud. In the US it is rare to have the opportunity to ever hear a live oud concert. Luckily, as a student at the University of Texas, I was able to attend several concerts of the legendary Sudanese oudist, Hamza El Din. I have been hooked on this instrument ever since.

A good introduction to the oud also can be found at Naseer Shamma’s website. He is Iraq’s master oudist. His site has seven albums by him showcased, with very good musical clips of one piece from each album. My favorite is the clip from the second album listed, The Moon Fades. Beautiful cover, beautiful melody, beautiful instrument, the oud. Go and enjoy.

If you are curious about the politics of this master musician from Iraq, check out an article about him at the newspaper, al Ahram.