Mohamed Eltayeb
Education:
2010-2015 - Berklee College of Music (Boston, Ma)
1998 - Sudanese Youth Palace Music Program (Khartoum, Sudan)
1990 - The Drama and Music Institution (Khartoum, Sudan)
Hailing from North Sudan, Mohamed Araki began playing the piano in 1985, at the age of 5. By the age of ten, he began playing locally in his father’s band (Abu Araki, a prominent Sudanese composer, and multi-instrumentalist). In 2005, Araki began producing Abu Araki’s music. They recorded their first album in 2000. In addition to producing for his father’s work, Araki also played regularly during the same time period with Magic Band, Amal El Noor, Taha Sleiman, and Almillije, and producing shows at The French Cultural Center.
In 2008, Mohamed came to the states to play the Sudanese Festival of Music and Dance in Chicago. He was also one of the key organizers of the festival, making arrangements for several different acts to travel to the states to participate. He then decided to stay, moving to Virginia which has a large Sudanese community. While playing in local bands of various styles - Algerian, Reggae, Eritrean/Ethiopian, Araki applied to Berklee College of Music. In 2012, Araki became president of the African Club at Berklee. That same year, he began playing in a local band, Spiritual Rez, which he would continue to tour with nationally until now. Over the past 8 years, Araki has also become a member of a number of different groups including Lamine Tour and Saloum, Bombino, Brooklyn Nomads, Josh and The Jam Tones, Bahloul, Dead Messengers and Dean Ford and The Beautiful Ones.
In 2015, Araki produced and played in his own senior show at Berklee. In general, a senior recital would be a small one hour performance in a small hall in the college. Araki’s senior performance, by contrast, took place in the Berklee Performance Center, Berklee’s largest stage. The culmination of his studies was also not just a performance, but instead included a week of programming -- workshops, clinics and recording sessions, centered on music from Sudan, and surrounding regions. The show itself included several prominent Sudanese musicians who travelled to Boston to share the stage with Mohamed, and other Berklee affiliated musicians and producers.
Recordings:
Tchova Nyolo (never give up) - Kina Zoré
Apocalypse whenever - Spiritual Rez