Al compas del mundo – programa #57 Music of the Arab world

Music of the Arab world, First Broadcast 12-15-22

Just chewing the qat

Runlist

01 Boudjemaa El Ankis - Rah Yendem Men Han Hbibou (Algeria)

02 Fairouz - Saluni an-nas فيروز سالوني الناس (Lebanon)

03 Fatma Eid - Hassanen wa Mohamaden (Egypt) فاطمه عيد - حسانين و محمدين

04 Talal al-Madah - Hobbak Sabani (Saudi Arabia)

05 Trio Fahmi Riahi & Sabry Mosbah - صالح الفرزي  إرضى علينا (Tunisia)

06 Founon Shaabyia - Ya zareef at-tul (Palestine)

07 Kamal Turbas – title unknown (Sudan)

08 Kawkabani Brothers - You Said that You Would Forget Me (Yemen)

09 Children of Abraham - Spiritual Union in Song (Iraq)

10 Jalsah Iraqia - Zalel al'af (Iraq)

11 Sheikh 'Abdu an-Naby az-Zaman – title unknown (Egypt)

12 Fedwa Abid - (Syria-USA) دعاء مولاى كن لى وحدى

13 Mehdi Nassouli, Boganga and Sandia – Ammar 808 (Morocco)

Music of the Arab world spans a sizable area from Mauritania in the West, across northern Africa, down to Sudan and Somalia and across the Red Sea to the Middle East: Iraq, Palestine, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, the Emirates, and more. Needless to say, Arabic is the lingua franca though the difference in dialects from one corner of the region to the next is almost indecipherable, not to mention indigenous languages of the Amazight (Berbers) and Bedouin folk who largely remain on the margins. There is a classic Arabic, al-fus-ha, the language of the koran that serves to unite disparate peoples through its use in journalism, formal speeches, and other pronouncements of a certain educated standard. From a cultural milieu like that you get a musical tradition that has a hundred local accents while largely remaining faithfully wedded to its racial geography and origins. 

Listen to the Kawkabani Brothers of Yemen, playing a languorous song as entertainment for an afternoon session of chewing qat (a mild stimulant) and drinking tea. Fedwa Abid, born and raised in Michigan, used to win awards for her talents in performing traditional Syrian songs from the Old World she barely knew. Fatma Eid from the Egyptian countryside brings rural stylings to her fans in a piece extolling the virtues of birth control. From an Iraqi children’s choir we hear a young soloist with the voice of an angel. Founon Shaabia (Band of the People) proves the folklore of the Palestinian people lives on. And Fairouz appears out of Lebanon as one of the most heralded and best-loved singers of the entire Arab world. Ahab the Arab will not be appearing. -J.H.