Majeed Marhoon (; 17 August 1945 – 16 March 2010) was a Bahraini saxophonist, and a former leftist political activist with the National Liberation Front of Bahrain. He spent 22 years in prison in Bahrain between 1968 and 1990, accused of planting a bomb in the car of a British intelligence officer of 21 March 1966. Seventeen of his years in captivity were spent at the Jidda Island prison, with four of those years in solitary confinement.
He claims to have been tortured in prison under the orders of British officer Ian Henderson.
Life
Majeed Marhoon was born on 17 August, 1945 in Hoora, Bahrain. Majeed says that his birth was one week after the second bombing of Japan by the American forces and the heat that day was extreme due to the spreading of atomic dust in the ozone layer.
Majeed faced the bitterness of life and poverty by excelling in school. He stated, "I was one of the best students in the school despite the hardships of living, at times we used to go to bed with empty stomachs. In 1953, I was transferred to Gudaibiya elementary school before it was fully constructed. In that school I noticed the social differences between classes, and I used to isolate myself trying to think and find reasons, but of no use, because the issue was bigger than my mind could handle."
In the academic year 1956, Majeed was asked by his arts and sports teacher, Salman Majid Al-Dallaal, to compose the music for a monologue of a school play. This was the first of Majeed's musical compositions; he was only ten years old when he composed this monologue which was broadcast on Radio Bahrain.
Every night, before he goes to bed, Majeed would listen to Radio Dhahran on an old radio that works on a dry battery. Radio Dhahran used to broadcast music 24 hours a day.
After elementary school, Majeed was transferred to the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) Training School, since being affiliated to this school ensured an income. This helped him and his family to move out from the house they rented to a better home.
In 1959, he bought a harmonica and along with it a book to learn how to play it. Due to his limited knowledge of English at the time, Majeed struggled to play initially, however he overcame it by learning to play by ear.
This youth born for music was also vowed to struggle. In those beautiful times, the creative ones always found themselves biased towards the cause of their people, and the progressive route expressed that yearning for freedom.
This would lead him to reading novels and literature of George Hanna, Salama Moussa, Mohammed Mandour and Maxim Gorki. The stories and novels of the latter had a deep impact on Majeed because he found in the characters of those stories live impersonations he related to in real life.
In a short while, the realization came to Majeed that the Socialist ideas and directions were closest to his mind and heart. That was when he was asked if he would be interested in joining the National Liberation Front, Majeed says, "Without hesitation, I revealed my desire and eagerness to join it!"
In 1961, he was asked by the late Baqer Kalbarham to start a music group to play at the forefront of Kalbarham's Azza* procession during the lunar month of Muharram, since he was one of the most popular musicians among the poor at the time. With great enthusiasm, Majeed took up the task.
At this stage, the consciousness of the meeting point between art and music with the ideas of change got defined within him. This realization enhanced his stance that music is a means to transcend with the taste of the human being and discipline his soul. His musical skills had been improving, and other instruments started luring him into their world.
In 1961, he bought the saxophone after being introduced to wind instruments like the trumpet and the clarinet.
According to the late artist Ahmed Jamal, who owned a music instruments and books shop, Majeed was the first in Bahrain to buy a saxophone and a book with it to learn how to play, and he did with no help from any teacher or instructor.
Majeed joined the Amateur Musicians Family in late 1963 for six months, during which he participated in various concerts and events organized by many clubs, but his membership there didn't take long for him to later become one of the founders of Al-Anwar Group.
His musical and artistic knowledge continued to grow and develop and his saxophone playing skills have been improving significantly, he began to play French music which widened his artistic capabilities. He also played African, Latin American, English music (like The Beatles), Spanish and Russian; even though he was unable to continue studying music in a methodological manner.