PENANG-BORN AHMAD NAWAB was a towering figure in Malaysian music. Born on 6 April 1933, Ahmad was the first child of immigrant Pakistani musician, Nawab Khan Rana Khan, who had come to Malaya with the Indian Army, and subsequently joined a Bangsawan troupe. He later married a mixed Indian Penangite Juhara Bee Fakir Maidin and they settled in Penang.

In an interview for the book Just For The Love Of It, Ahmad said his interest in the entertainment and music world began at an early age; he was particularly captivated with cinema and theatre. Prior to choosing music as an occupation, he thought of being an artist, as he had a talent for drawing portraits. In fact, he had entered competitions and even won a prize in a movie news magazine for his drawing of James Cagney.

While his desire to become a musician ran deep, his father did not approve of it. The latter knew the hardships of a musician’s life and was determined to spare his son those struggles. Ahmad followed his father’s advice and tried to enrol in a Batu Lanchang vocational school after failing his Standard Five exams at Francis Light School. But as fate would have it, the school had a fixed quota, and the person lining up in front of him was the last person to be accepted into the school. Ahmad was turned away.

This setback further fuelled his ambition to pursue a career in music. According to Ahmad, it was his mother who finally managed to persuade his father to let him follow his passion. His father insisted that if he were to be a musician, he had to be the best. He pushed Ahmad into reading music and learning theory. This became Ahmad’s motivation—he wanted to make his father proud.

In 1949, after picking up the basics from his father, Ahmad joined the Penang Municipal Band as a clarinet player. During his time with the band, he took the opportunity to interact with more professional musicians, deepening his understanding of music more systematically.

A year later, Ahmad joined the Kedah Police Band in Alor Setar as an auxiliary police officer. It was then that he discovered a book about Glenn Miller. It opened his eyes to the world of music—from composing, arranging, lyric writing, producing albums, film scoring and conducting orchestras. Now inspired by new knowledge, Ahmad composed his first song, Bintang Malam, while gazing at the moon one night.

Seeing that playing in a police band was rather limiting—the focus was primarily on classical pieces and marching songs—he returned to Penang after two years, and rejoined the municipal band in George Town headed by Bhagart Singh. He played third clarinet while his father held the position of first clarinet in the same band.

A Taste of The Commercial World

Inigo Geronimo, who was also playing clarinet in the municipal band, gave Ahmad the opportunity to expand his musical education by introducing him to the “commercial” side of music. Ahmad began playing in Inigo’s band at New World Park, earning $4 a night. Ahmad recalls playing Arabic music with the band at the Windsor theatre every day before Arabic movie screenings that would last a week and in competitions at the Cathay cinema, besides doing casual gigs in the evenings. “We played all sorts of music—Arabic, Malay, Chinese and the latest Western hits—this was where my real-world education went to another level,” Ahmad recalled.

He was invited to join the Wembley Cabaret band a little later to play the tenor saxophone. The band leader offered him the instrument, which Ahmad repaid in instalments of $40 a month. There, he honed his skills playing primarily dance and jazz music. Ahmad would cycle from his home behind Jalan Terengganu to town with his saxophone. “On my way home, the path to the house was very dark and ran next to a Japanese cemetery. I was so scared that I would wait at the entrance until I saw someone else going in, then I would follow —cycling fast and shouting to my mum to switch on the lights!” he recounted.

Ahmad also had an opportunity to perform with Joe Rozells’ band at the Piccadilly, who “would start a song without telling you what it was or the key, and you just had to listen and pick it up fast.” Ahmad joined several keronchong groups and even formed his own band, Orkes Juwita.

It was during this period that he started writing more songs: “I wanted to be a composer, but there was nobody to teach me. There were no music schools at that time. So I just learned how to compose from the basic music knowledge taught by my father.”

In the early 1950s, he established a music academy in Kedah Road (a Chinese towkay let the locale out free-of-charge) to help nurture young Malay musicians. The outcome was Mambo Murni Orchestra, which specialised in Latin music, and whose vocalist was Ahmad Daud. They performed at various functions and made occasional appearances at Padang Tambun and on Radio Malaya.

Making the Move to KL

News of Ahmad’s talent and his orchestra reached the ears of Ahmad Amin, also known as Ahmad Trumpet. The latter invited Ahmad Nawab to join his band at BB Park. Ahmad finally made his move to KL in 1957. Impressed by his talent and his young age, Ahmad Amin offered him a salary of $260 a month—a substantial sum at the time.

Playing at BB Park proved a challenging period for Ahmad Nawab. The leader of the band was not an easy person to work with, and Ahmad dreaded going to work. He told his wife, Siti Zainab Ibrahim (whom he married at the age of 19 in Penang), that they should go back to Penang even if it meant that he had to work as a trishaw rider.

However, just after that confession, he chanced upon Ahmad Merican at a coffee shop near Bukit Bintang. Ahmad Merican was actually looking for him; he needed a saxophonist for his band at the Embassy Hotel on Imbi Road. “Can you join me?” he asked, and Ahmad Nawab immediately answered “Yes!” The gig paid $300 a month, and the band played mainly jazz music. Unfortunately, this stint only lasted for about six months before the hotel closed down.

Left once again without a job, Ahmad this time decided to send Siti Zainab back to Penang while he remained in KL to look for opportunities. It was a difficult period for him; sometimes he went three days without eating, only drinking water, sleeping under newspapers, and having only a few shirts and two pairs of pants to change between—one black and one grey. He wore these until they were torn from him bicycle riding so much. Fortunately, his former band’s pianist managed to secure a gig at a British camp, which paid $25. After that stint, he joined the HH Tann Orchestra at Federal Hotel.

Orkes Puspahati and Radio Malaya

In 1960, Alfonso Soliano offered Ahmad an opportunity to join Puspahati, Radio Malaya’s first orchestra, as baritone saxophonist. Ahmad accepted the offer, and returned to Penang to purchase a used baritone saxophone for $600 at the Cheng Lee music store on Penang Road. He then returned to KL to join the eight-piece orchestra. All the members were paid a standard $700 a month, including Alfonso, the orchestra leader.

Around that time that, Merdeka Films producer, L. Krishnan contacted Ahmad and asked if he would compose the soundtrack for the movie Tun Teja. Despite some initial hesitation, he promised to give it a try. He successfully penned the music score after getting the script.

In 1963, Radio Malaya became Radio Television Malaysia (RTM). By then, the orchestra had expanded to become RTM Orchestra. Ahmad’s skills also significantly improved under the tutelage of Berklee lecturers Herb Pomeroy and Charlie Mariano, who briefly worked with the orchestra.

In 1964, P. Ramlee asked Ahmad to write music for his film; he had particularly liked Bintang Malam, which had been recorded by Zaharah Agus in 1960, and to have Saloma sing it. Ahmad introduced the Bossanova style, and wrote a song titled Bossanova. Both these songs were used in the movie, Do Re Mi (1966).

Songs for the Stars and The Recording Industry

While at the RTM orchestra, Ahmad was approached by EMI to write songs for artistes like Sharifah Aini, DJ Dave, Uji Rashid and Khadijah Ibrahim. He moved from being a part timer to A&R Manager cum composer, arranger and producer for EMI in 1975, after realising that his songs had played a huge part in turning these artistes into stars. In 1978, he joined WEA in the same capacity. In 1983, he left to set up his own recording company and established his own production house called Nawab Production in 1986. His oldest son, Ismail, served as the managing director and his daughter, June, managed artistes’ image and publicity.

From the late 1970s to the 1980s, he reputedly dominated the Malaysian music scene, and the media began extolling him with labels and titles with articles such as “Lion of Malaysian Music”, “Ahmad Nawab’s Midas Touch”, “The Music Maker”, etc.

Over his six-decade career, Ahmad composed more than 2,000 songs recorded by over 70 singers within the region. His notable songs include Kau Kunci Cintaku Dalam Hatimu (made famous by Ramlah Ram), Setulus Hati Mu and Sabar Menanti. He also released instrumental albums (the first with EMI, three with WEA and one with MRC) and wrote award-winning music scores for films, winning best musical score award for Sumber Ilham Ku (1980), Bintang Pujaan (1981) and Penentuan (1982).

Malaysia Truly Asia

Ahmad was the creative genius behind Malaysia Truly Asia. He was commissioned by Tourism Malaysia in 1999 to compose a song that would present Malaysia to the rest of the world. His task was to create a melody that would appeal to Malaysia’s major ethnic groups; the lyrics were already given. In a 2019 interview, Ahmad stated that this song was his most significant and esteemed musical accomplishment. Highlighting tourism, he said that song fulfilled a promise to his parents—to write a song that would resonate globally. The song was recorded in 17 languages for the entire world to understand.

Recognising Khadijah Ibrahim’s unique voice, Ahmad invited her to record the song, stating, “Kathy, we have a big job.” She returned immediately from Los Angeles to record a demo tape. He incorporated instruments and rhythms from Malaysia’s diverse ethnicities and cultures—a combination of the kompang, Kelantan Wayang Kulit (shadow puppetry) music, serunai, tabla, accordion and seruling (flute).

Ahmad Nawab received numerous accolades, including Best Composer at Juara Lagu 1988 and Anugerah Nadi Cipta 1999, Anugerah Industri Muzik, Seniman Negara (2006), Anugerah Seni Parfi (Indonesia) and an honorary doctorate from Universiti Putra Malaysia.

At an event titled “Ahmad Nawab—The Man and His Music” held at the Penang House of Music during the 2017 George Town Festival, Ahmad reflected expressed disappointment that his expertise wasn’t sought after. He lamented that Malaysia often undervalued its artistes, citing P. Ramlee as an example. In fact, serious discussions about the legacy of P. Ramlee, for example, was initiated only 13 years after his death.

On 24 November 2024, Ahmad Nawab passed away peacefully in his home surrounded by family.