Munir Bashir

L'art du ud

"Munir Bashir [his last-name is spelled as Bachir, Bechir or Bashir depending on which language] founded his own school and, in post-war Baghdad (Iraq), created a conservatory of music to train young talents in the art of the ud. But his reputation had spread far beyond the frontiers of his own country, Iraq. He was subsequently appointed Professor at the Fine Arts Academy and Head of the Music Service of the Iraqi Public Radio.
Seeking to widen his horizons, Munir Bashir then went to Budapest in Hungary, where he specialized in the study of popular musical traditions. In 1955 he obtained a Doctarate degree and became a lecturer in the Folk Arts Secion of the Academy of Sciences in Budapest. At the same time he gave a series of ud recitals in Hungary, under the patronage of Zoltan Kodaly. The famous contemporary composer was one of his greatest admirers and encouraged him in his efforts to promulgate authentic Arab music. He later appeared in various parts of the Near East, Asia and Europe. He is considered as one of the finest musicians in the Arab world and the uncontested master of the ud." (written by Simon Jargy, translated by Jeffrey Grice, from CD's program notes)

"L'art du ud" was released in 1998 by Ocora which is a French label. Ocora is distributed by Harmonia Mundi in U.S. and they have a web-site. You can reach Ocora only by mail, if you would like a catalog:
Ocora Radio France
(Piece 1275)
116, avenue du President Kennedy
75220 Paris cedex 16, France
You can find this CD in some of the on-line distributors, we have links to these distributors on our "Oud CDs" page.

Artists and their recordings in this category:

Munir Bachir:
Meditations

Omar Bashir:
Zykrayati

Munir Bechir:
Babylon Mood

Naseer Shamma:
Ishraq

Munir Bashir:
L'art du ud

Iraqi Music:
Ud Taqsim and Pasta

Munir Bachir:
En concert/live a Paris

click on the names to see the CDs from that country: