Blues, Jazz, Pop, Reggae from Sudan
Spotify CD “UNITY” 9/2024
Spotify CD “PEACEFULLY“ 12/2023
iTunes + Youtube
Solo-Performance
& Line-up:
Hassan Elmalik – Voc, Oud, Comp, Sudan
Binizion – Bass, Comp, Prod, Ethiopia
Sebastian Medina – Guit., Chile
Tommy Seiler – Keyb., Germany
Kpapo aka Ras Tutu – Drums, Ghana
Stefan „Higgi“ Hickmann – Guit, Germany
Ali Guma – Bongos, Sudan
stand-by:
Mauricio Assis Fleury – Bass & Flute, Brazil
Haitham Mansor -Drums, Cajon, Sudan
Kamil Elhadi -Accordion, Guitar, Percussion, Sudan
Blues Music on the Sudan Pentatonic Scale –
On The Oud Through the World.
SUN BLUES represents the deep heartbeat of Africa where the sun never hides.
The virtuoso on the oud comes from Omdourman, the heart of Sudan, where the Blue & White Nile meet and the blues was born. He combines musical currents from different continents and epochs and developed his own musical genre between Africa, the Orient and Europe on the traces of the Sudanese tradition with avant-garde arrangements.
Traditional Sudanese and Ethiopian rhythms and melodies combined with Jamaican reggae and African blues to create a new, spectacular style.
The cultural heritage unmistakably mixes the lively multicultural everyday life with the shadowy features of the Afro-Blues and the archaic melancholy of sunken powers of the old kingdom of Kush in Sudan. His instrument is small, but the cosmos it creates is as infinite and legendary as the millennia-old events along the Nile.
In the 90s he played with the reggae band “Culture Roots”, tours with Mohammad Alamin and Abdelaziz Almubarak, numerous concerts in Yemen at Sanaa University, Netherlands, UK and in the “National Theater of Omdourman”, the largest concert hall in Sudan well-known Sudanese artists, such as with Attomat. 2005-2009 head of the music department at the radio station “Khartoum FM” (kfm89).
Although he has lived in exile for many years due to the political situation and precarious situation in Sudan, he is also celebrated for his musical ability in his country of origin.
CDs:
UNITY Hassan’s 2nd album with Binizion, by GenesisMusicEthiopia, 9-2024
Ten diamond works with the aim of unity, peace, happiness, respect, freedom, being yourself and reflecting in Sudanese language and Ethiopian music in multicultural culture.
with Hassan Elmalik – Oud & Voc., Binizion – Bass, Seba Medidna – Guitar, Marta Skraburska – Trombones
PEACEFULLY Debut-Album by AHOI-tunes, 12-2023
“PEACEFULLY was created during the war in Sudan.
I was born with the hope for peace and freedom and life for musicians was very difficult. We built musical instruments ourselves, but it sounded different than on TV… So I traveled through Sudan and neighboring countries to famous artists and enjoyed their professional instruments with Mama Africa’s music in Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Mali, Morocco…, my father was an oud player and today I am SUN BLUES. SUN, the Sun is the main element for life. She seems to have a lot of strength and zest for life all year round. The Blues music can be felt dark.” Hassan Elmalik
The Musicians:
BiniZion – Bass, Composer, Music-Producer from Ethiopia
ቢኒ ፅዮን aka Binyame Ashenafi was born and raised in Shashemene Ethiopia.
On age of 13 he start to perform Melodica playing and singing in Shashemene young artist program SHYAP founded by the father of Ethiopian Reggae RasKawintseb KM. With 16 years he joined RasKawintseb and Aethiofrika Band in Shashemene and performed as Keyboardist his first concert @ Bob Marley Stadium in Shashemene Ethiopia and formed in 2011 his first band ግዕዝ ሩት GEEZROOTS BAND. He team-up with Kamuzzu Kassa, Ermias Dagne, RasJany, One Vibe Band, Imperial Majestic Band, E.W.F. (Ethiopian World Federation) & Daniel Grazmach Tasse and founded Ethiopian Young Artist program, which helps, over hundreds of children and youths in Addis Abeba Ethiopia.
He released with Ermias Dagne USA music video for 50th OAU aka African Union Anniversary UNITED STATES OF AFRICA featuring Various African Artists from around the world and team-up with African Young Association worked as Ethiopian Young artist representer and certifid by OAU. Organization of African Union AA. Work with Ermias Dagne, TTI Twelve Tribes of Israel AA Ethiopia and HIM Royal family of Ethiopia to Organized SHAMA BALL which gathers hundreds of Ras Teferians from around the world. He worked with Sydney Salmon, Imperial Majestic Band, RasKawintseb, Aethiofrika Band, Evolution Band, Satta Tree Band, and Aldub One drop Music, Madeleine & Band, Atum Shakim, Shabaka Roots Band, Black Prophet, Loyalty Band, Alibeta and Nomads, World tour. With Joseph Blue Grant, Still Cool Band and DubWizers on Europe-Tour an many more ! In 2022 BiniZion team-up with Hassan El Malik and Sun Blues Band.
He produced the CD UNITY with Hassan Elmalik 9/2024 by Genesis Music Ethiopia.
Stefan “Higgi” Hickmann – guitar
born 1977, played the trumpet in the music club at the age of 6 and had classical music lessons with stage performances! At 15 he switched to guitar, later to bass, played in local bands, e.g. “Inflammable Liquid” was so successful that they sponsored a CD recording and got offers from an indie label. At the age of 18, he worked in a professional recording studio as a guitarist and bassist for recordings and as a music scorer for a label, later independently as the responsible sound engineer for live events and had a deep insight into music production and event technology.
After studying in Aachen/Germany and Toulouse/France, he graduated as a mechatronics engineer and moved to Berlin and played in bands as a guitarist, bassist and trumpeter. At the same time, he set up the Phatfish Studio in Berlin with a sound engineer & DJ, where he has since worked as a musician and sound engineer for many bands and artists and has accompanied numerous music productions.
He played in Germany and abroad as far as Jamaica and South Africa, where he recorded with some of the most well-known reggae artists. Concerts with Chinna Smith, Sly&Robbie, Robie Lyn, Glen Browne, Wilburn “Squidly” Cole, Clive Hunt, Delroy “Phatta” Pottinger, Tuthukani Cele, Paul Hanmer, Maxidilick Adioa, Trompeterkorps Eefelkank, Louis-Jean & Irie Rainbow, Senah “Iron Leo” Gbessaya, Fôô Fanick, Joseph “Still cool” Grant, Sattatree, Dadda Dice, Atum Kashela, Kwame “Sometimer” Gbemu.
He met Hassan Elmalik in 2015 and was enthusiastic about Hassan’s extraordinary oud & guitar style and new interpretation of well-known reggae and ska songs, so that after some studio recordings, produced the CD “UNITY” 9/2024 with Hassan Elmalik.
Mauricio Fleury, Bass & Flute
As a sought-after producer, multi-instrumentalist and DJ, Mauricio Fleury has significantly shaped São Paulo’s lively music scene over the last two decades and his work covers almost the entire spectrum of contemporary Brazilian music. As a founding member of Bixiga 70, he has played concerts with the band in five continents and shared the stage with greats such as Marlena Shaw, Orlando Julius and Oghene Kologbo, as well as Brazilian artists such as Russo Passapusso and Juçara Marçal. In addition to his own band, Mauriccio Fleury played with legends such as João Donato, Marcos Valle, Gal Costa, Jair Rodrigues, Mateus Aleluia (Os Tincoãs) and Nando Reis as well as many other stars from the next generation, including Emicida, Liniker, Fióti and Otto.
Haitham Mansor
keeps the beat with cajon, bongos, conga, drums and everything that has to do with rhythms.
He played with Isam Mohamed Nor – one of the best singers in Sudan, Alwan Attaif Band, Sudan Roots and many other musicians in Sudan.
Now lives in Berlin and has been with SUN BLUES since the beginning.
Ali Guma
Born in Sudan in 1982 and has lived in southern Germany since 2008.
Studied at the music school in Bahri, Khartoum and worked with many well-known musicians such as Shokrallah Izzaldien, Madani Alsamani and Ibrahim Abdelhalim.
Appearances in Beirut, Lebanon, Bucharest, Romania, Russia, Switzerland & many German cities.