Jamil Bachir

Jamil Bachir was born in Mosul, Iraq, to an Assyrian Syriac Christian family. His father was a singer and a well-known oud player who started to teach him the oud when he was around six years old. Jamil Bachir was the brother of oud player Munir Bashir. He enrolled in the Iraqi Music Institute in 1937, where he learned oud with Sherif Muheddin Haydar and violin with Sando Albu. He finished his oud studies in 1943 and his violin study in 1946, and then worked at the Institute as an oud and violin teacher. He also wrote a two-volume oud method. Jamil Bashir was also a good singer, but he did not continue singing as he preferred the oud. He performed and recorded many traditional Iraqi maqams, as well as his own compositions. He died in London on 24 September 1977. He is considered one of the most influential oud players in the history of Iraqi music.