Music of Sudan

Sudan has a rich and unique musical culture that has been through chronic instability and repression during the modern history of Sudan.

Beginning with the imposition of strict sharia in 1989, many of the country's most prominent musicians and poets, like poet Mahjoub Sharif, were imprisoned while others, like Mohammed el Amin and Mohammed Wardi, fled to Cairo (Mohammed el amin returned to Sudan in 1991 and Mohammed Wardi returned to Sudan in 2003). Traditional music suffered too, with traditional Zār ceremonies being interrupted and drums confiscated. At the same time, however, the European militaries contributed to the development of Sudanese music by introducing new instruments and styles; military bands, especially the Scottish bagpipes, were renowned, and set traditional music to military march music. The march March Shulkawi No 1, is an example, set to the sounds of the Shilluk. Sudan is very diverse, with five hundred plus ethnic groups spread across the country's territory, which is the third largest country in Africa. The country has been a crossroads between North, East and West Africa for hundreds of years, and is inhabited by a 579 ethnic groups predominantly Arabs and African Muslims.

The Sufi Dervishes are a mystical sect that use music and dance to achieve an altered state of consciousness in a tradition called zikr. The drumming sessions of the women's Zār sect are a prominent part of Dervish music. The Sufi orders engage in ritualized dhikr ceremonies. Each order or lineage within an order has one or more forms for group dhikr, the liturgy of which may include recitation, singing, instrumental music, dance, costumes, incense, meditation, ecstasy, and trance. Dhikr in a group is most often done on Thursday and/or Sunday nights as part of the institutional practice of the orders.

...
Wikipedia