Ziad Rahbani

As a taste of things to come thanks to the collaborator, here's a little video fun- an absolute monster of a track from a man who should absolutely be recognized for the depth and quality of his work on a more worldwide scale. It is (and again this is all thanks to the new cultural source) called 'Abu Ali' and is a five part suite written and composed by Rahbani. This is some madly smooth funk action here, and a slightly sad reminder of just how urbane and cosmopolitan Beirut was (and can be) when other people aren't staging their wars there. Go ahead, take a half hour to relax, have a cup of nice strong coffee and imagine yourself in the Paris of the East......

Sadly a day later this post has taken on a new tone after the brutally sad events in Beirut and Syria. Our thoughts go out to those caught up in this madness.....

Folk Songs & Dances From Lebanon

After the recent mention of Fairuz, it seemed wrong to not post something of hers, thus we have this collection, an album I remember being in a friend's family record collection many years back. Side one features a pair of tracks from Fairuz, while another long standing staple of Lebanese pop, Sabah, holds down side 2. In one of those wonderful moments of things linking up weirdly, Sabah also makes an appearance in 'Bosta', easily the best dabke on a bus film ever made!

(In all seriousness it is a very entertaining movie and well worth the time should you come across it.)

In hopefully momentous news, things will be changing here soon- the blog will take on an all new look and an all new address to become a much more carefully curated deal, complete with some occasional expert input from another contributor. Onward and upward.......

Mohammed Abdel Wahab- Cleopatra

Staying in an Egyptian vein after last weeks post, here's a lovely album from another Delta great, Mr. Mohammed Abdel Wahab. Interestingly, amongst Abdel Wahab's typically prolific output are not only a song used as Libya's national anthem pre and post Gadaffi, but the anthems of Tunisia and the U.A.E. as well. As for information on this selection, you'll have to wait a few weeks  until my Arabic translator can be called upon to help me out with some of these liner notes, but for now the music is here .

Jennifer Grout & Umm Kulthum

A bit of a strange post this week, but bear with me. The young blonde woman above is Jennifer Grout, a 23 year old American who has made it to the finals of 'Arabs Got Talent' despite barely speaking the language. Already a classically trained singer, she fell in love with Arabic music a few years ago after hearing Fairouz and has become a very adept singer and Oud player as the clip proves. Currently living in Morocco to further her musical education, Ms. Grout was encouraged to enter the tryouts for the show and the rest is, as they say, history. There's a good story about her here and as someone who fell in love with Arabic music at about the same age thanks to Fairouz, I couldn't be happier for her- she's done well. In honor of Ms. Grout's performance, here's an excellent Umm Kulthum/Oum Kalsoum 45 for your enjoyment, all 4 sides of it!

Yugomelodii

I'm always willing to gamble on these self-released items, and here's it paying off. An album of well played Macedonian folk, obviously a US recorded and based band, but definitely the real deal. Couple of great zurla moments, some good singers- I'm happy. A bit of idle research however, and this record took on a real character. Our label mastermind, Atanas Kolarovski (that's him above), is quite the story. Born in a Macedonian village in 1926, he grew up in a pretty representive Balkan village community, played music under the guidance of friends and family, joined the army in WW2 at the age of 16, wound up in the Army choir and eventually in a national folk ensemble after the war. In the 70's he moved to Seattle where he's been involved in folk dance ever since- he was honored at a Seattle Folk Festival just last month in fact. Such a great backstory to an odd record found in a thrift store- you can hear it here.