Noureddin Jaber tunes his unique half guitar and half tambourine instrument to play with his band the melodies and rhythms of the marginalized peoples of eastern Sudan, whose voice he wants to convey to the world through his music.
Every workout for the 47-year-old Jaber is a dream come true with his group of guitarists, saxophonists and percussionists.
Jaber, known as Nuri, said among the Druba group that Beja means “Mountain Band” in the local language: “Beja people are marginalized, Sudan, and they want to do everything to change their situation.”
He adds: “Music plays a prominent role in strengthening, amplifying and highlighting their cause, and we strive to convey their voice through music.”
Beja groups are nomadic in the Red Sea mountains of eastern Sudan, working as shepherds and living in Egypt and Eritrea. They suffered discrimination and deprivation from successive Sudanese governments, especially during Omar al-Bashir’s three decades of rule until he was overthrown in 2019 after months of popular protests, despite living in a resource-rich region.Ports The Red Sea is Sudan’s economic lung through which all of Sudan’s export and import trade takes place, and it is the port through which South Sudan’s oil is exported abroad.
