Naseer Shamma

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Naseer Shamma is an Iraqi musician and oud player, the Arabic lute. He was born in 1963 in Kut, a city on the Tigris. At the age of twelve he began his oud studies in Baghdad, following in the footsteps of Jamil and Munir Bashir. In 1987 he obtained his diploma at the Baghdad Academy of Music. Three years later he began teaching himself, alongside his own studies. He wrote music for film, theatre and television and founded the Arabic Oud House.

Music and breakthrough

In the 1980s the Iraqi government accused him of criticising Saddam Hussein. He was invited to the Iraqi embassy in Amman, abducted there and taken to Iraq against his will, where he was imprisoned, interrogated for weeks and sentenced to death without a trial. In the end he was released without any proceedings. He was later appointed UNESCO Artist for Peace and goodwill ambassador of the Red Crescent and the Red Cross.

Influence

His albums include The Moon Fades (2004), Maqamat Ziryab (2005), Hilal (2006), Land of Darkness (2010) and Viaje de las almas (Travelling Souls) (2011). As an oud player he continues the Iraqi tradition of the Bashirs, in which the oud as a solo instrument, with maqam, the Arabic melodic modes, has an important place. In 2024 he held his first art exhibition, Half Life.

Listening

• 
  Sukûn al-layl fî Baghdad · Naseer Shamma, 1999

Discography

Studio albums

• 2004The Moon Fades
• 2005Maqamat Ziryab
• 2006Hilal
• 2010Land of Darkness
• 2011Viaje de las almas (Travelling Souls)

See also

• Arabic classical music (maqam)