Obituary: Adel Salameh (1966-2019)

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 146, April 2019.

The Palestinian oud player Adel Salameh died on January 23. Born in Nablus and growing up in the nearby city of Tulkarm, Salameh first learnt the oud in informal, social settings, but took it to the next level by studying music at university, first in Jordan and then Iraq. After settling in Europe in 1990, he became instrumental in the promotion of the oud across the continent.

He was particularly known for his international collaborations, including the celebrated duet with Indian sarod player Krishnamurti Sridhar (released as the album The Arab Path to India on WOMAD Select in 1996), and performing with jazz, flamenco and North African musicians. He was passionate about promoting the oud to as many listeners and would-be performers as possible, teaching classes all across Europe and even organising an intensive week-long ‘oud camps’ in Switzerland. Long-time readers of Songlines will be familiar with Salameh from a Tools of the Trade feature in #5, which examined the history and construction of the oud, as well as his own close personal relationship with the instrument.


Photo: Adel Salameh, by Laure Abouaf.