Jamil Bachir

Jamil Bachir (Arabic: جميل بشير; b. Mosul, Iraq, 1921; d. London, September 24, 1977) was born to Assyrian parents and is the brother of Munir Bashir. His father started to teach him the oud when he was around six years old, as his father was a singer, oud player and oud maker. When the Iraqi Music Institute opened in 1936, Jamil enrolled to learn oud with Sherif Muheddin Haydar and violin with Sando Alio. He finished his oud study 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 Bachir was also a good singer, but he did not continue singing as he preferred the oud. He died in London on 27 September 1977.