Sharhabil Ahmed

Sharhabil's wife, Zakia Abdul Gassim Abu Bakr, was the first female guitarist in Sudan, and several of their seven sons and daughters also have become musicians. In 2021, Zakia announced the forthcoming release of an album by her all-female band Sawa Sawa, including bass player Islam Elbeiti.

In July 2020, Habibi funk, an independent music label based in Germany, re-edited digital versions of some of Sharhabil's songs on the album "The King Of Sudanese Jazz", with the title 'Argos Farfish' and other songs available for free listening. - Announcing this compilation in the Financial Times, music critic David Honigman described the music in the following way:

Even though he has included saxophones and trumpets, his style of music has not much in common with the Western notion of Jazz music. Rather, Sharhabil’s sound is known as a unique combination of rock, funk, and Congolese music with a typical Sudanese character. Combining his soft vocals with the distinct sound of urban Sudanese music, he and his band became one of Sudan's most sought-after music groups. Over the years of his long career, he has published many songs and albums, available mostly in Sudan. As of 2018, Sharhabil Ahmed was still performing live at select occasions in Khartoum.

In an interview, he recalled his performance on New Year’s Eve 1971 at St. James’ music hall, the most important music venue in Khartoum at the time. During this show, he was called "The King of Sudanese Jazz", a title that has been associated with him ever since.

As his father worked as a truck driver, the family frequently moved from one part of Sudan to another. Ahmed grew up in Al-Obeid, the capital of former Kordofan province, in Western Sudan, and eventually enrolled at the College of Fine and Applied Arts in Khartoum, where he studied graphic design. After graduation, he joined the Ministry of Education as an illustrator for textbooks and comics magazines. He worked for several children's magazines, such as Al-Sabian, Maryud and Sabah magazines from 1960, until he retired from the Ministry of Education in 1995.

The electric guitar was originally introduced to the Khartoum music scene by musicians from what is now South Sudan, who appreciated the popular guitar sound from their neighbours in the Congo. Congolese music, itself heavily influenced by South American and Caribbean sounds, had an important influence on Sudanese popular music in the 1960s.

Sharhabil Ahmed, sometimes also Sharhabeel Ahmed (Arabic: شرحبيل أحمد, b. 1935), is a Sudanese popular musician, known for his distinctive style of singing, compositions, oud and guitar playing. Inspired by Western dance music like rock and roll and adding brass instruments to his electric lead guitar, he has been called "The King of Sudanese Jazz". He has composed numerous songs and performed all over Sudan, as well as in Europe, Africa and in the Gulf countries, where large communities of Sudanese exiles reside.