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| Sonia
M'Barek |
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Sonia M'Barek began singing Maluf - traditional Tunisian
court music - as a child. Maluf affinity with like styles
in Algeria, Libya and Morocco voices the music's historical
origins in southern Andalusia, before the Reconquest drove
Arabs from Spain in 1492. She trained in the Tunis conservatory,
and has performed widely in Tunisia and the neighboring
Maghreb. While rooted in the traditional maluf repertoire,
M'Barek steps beyond it by delving into the sharqi music
of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey, and is a great performer
of Muwashaht.
Ya
Ghusna Naqa
and Ya Bahjat al-Rouh are
two known Muwashahat and Bada Biqaddin
is a famous traditional Tunisian Nuba. |
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| Soad
Muhammad |
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Soad
Muhammad is one of the top Arab classical singers. She
is Lebanese by birth but she spent most of her life in
Egypt, the capital of Arabic art in the 20th century,
where she gained wide fame all over the Arab World. To
many she is the second singer next to Oum Kulthoum, after
Asmahan died in 1944. She sang in many films and was married
to the Lebanese journalist and lyrics poet Muhammad Ali
Fattouh.
Listen to her also performing Dor Ana Hawait by Sayed
Darwish on the Rare
Tunes page. |
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| Soubhi
Tawfic |
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| Soubhi
Tawfic is a young Lebanese artist who sings primarily
Arabic classical and traditional
songs. He is one of the best voices who are specialized
in this field. This song belongs to the Shami folklore,
and the original author and composer are both unknown.
The song belongs to the Tarab genre and you can hear a
version closer to the original on the Rare
Tunes
page, performed by Saliba al-Qatrib. |
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| 1.
Ana Fee Sukrayn Min Khamrin
Wa'ayn |
00:09:17 |
Play
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Download |
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| Layla
Murad |
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Layla
Murad (1918-1995) is vividly remembered by Egyptian and
Arab audiences for her singing of over 1,200 songs and
acting in 28 films, many considered to be classics. Born
in Cairo, 1918 to a Moroccan Jewish family, she converted
to Islam in 1946. Her father, Zaki Murad, was a singer
in the early 1920's and is said to have encouraged her
to sing. Choosing singing as her profession in 1933, Murad
worked with the leading Egyptian musician Mohammad Abdel
Wahab, and also with Mohammad Fouzi who was another leading
composer, singer and actor. In addition, she attracted
the great composers of the time to work with her, Mohammad
al-Qasabgi, Riyad al-Sunbati, Zakariya Ahmad, to name
a few; the same composers who wrote for Oum Kulthoum placing
the two in direct competition.
Her acting and singing career came to an end in the late
1950's, and she also ended her public life by refusing
to give press interviews. This attitude lasted until her
death.Yet, an entire generation of loyal followers had
not forgotten the star and her contribution to Arab cinema
and music.
Hayrana Leh (Why Are You Undecided) was Murad's
first documented song composed by Dawood Husni, in 1932. |
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| Karem
Mahmoud |
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Karem
Mahmoud (1922-1995) was born in Beheira, Egypt.
At a very early age he
mastered the classical forms of Arabic singing, such as
the Adwar of Saleh Abdel Hay and Sayyed Darwish. Karem
studied at the Institute of Arabic music in Cairo, from
which he graduated with unprecedented distinction. He
had
unique vocal capabilities and sang
all sorts and types of songs: love, prose, poetry, khaliji,
religious, classical, light, solos, musicals, operettas
and national patriotic songs. He was also a composer,
oud player and actor who played leading roles in many
musicals.
Here we present two of his "light" songs. Amana
'Alaik was a big hit when it came out in the 1960's
and it became a very popular dance song. We also present
a short clip of it, with karem performing it solo on the
oud. |
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| Mohamed
Bajedoub |
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| Bajedoub
is a leading Moroccan andalusi singer .... |
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| Sayed
Mekkawy |
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Sheikh
Sayed Mekkawy (1924-1997) was a landmark in Egyptian music
and
has influenced generations of Arab artists. His beginnings
were in religious music when he composed and performed
religious chants and "Tawasheeh". In the 1950's
he went through a turn and began composing non-religious
songs. He enriched Arab music by composing various songs
for major Arab artists, including a number of national
songs. Throughout his life, he collaborated with the Egyptian
poet Salah Jahin who wrote most of his lyrics. One of
their great works was the operetta "El Laila El Kebira"
(the great night) which depicts the typical "Mawled
festival"- a carnival celebration held in various
parts of rural Egypt. He advocated genuine Arabic music
and was very close to the school of Sheikh Zakaria Ahmad.
Asma` Allah al-Hosna is a
recital of the 99 attributes of the Divine, and is often
heard in religious occasions (listen to a recent marvelous
performance of this song by Hisham
Abbas). Ya Msaharni (lyrics
by Ahmad Rami) is one of his greatest songs which he composed
for Oum Kulthoum in 1972. Habibi
Yes'ed Awa`atoh is a song for Oum Kulthoum composed
by Zakaria Ahmad in 1943. |
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| Oulaya
al-Tunisiya |
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Oulaya
al-Tunisiya (1936-1990). Her real name is Beyyah al-Rahal,
daughter of the renowned Tunisian actor al-Bashir al-Rahal.
She began learning music and singing at the Rashidi Institute
in 1954, at the hands of the composer Saleh al-Mahdi,
who gave her the name Oulaya, after Oulaya al-Mahdi, sister
of the calif Haroun al-Rashid, who was an adept singer
and music player. She joined radio Tunis in 1957 and worked
under the supervision of the artist Rida al-Qal'i, who
composed the music of her famous song "Dhalamouni
Habaïbi". She sang many songs from the composition
of her teacher Saleh al-Mahdi, such as Ya Mdaween el-Naas
and el-Hob Nazrah, as well as songs by the Tunisian composers
Ali Shalgham and Qaddour al-Sarrar. In the early 1960's,
following her singing performances in Cairo, she was called
upon by Ahmad Shafiq Abu Ouf, head of the Higher Committee
of Arab Music, to work with Firqat al-Musiqa al-Arabiyah,
thus entering a major capital of Arabic music. Between
1975-1977 she made several visits to Lebanon, where she
sang songs composed by Riyad al-Bandak, and to Kuwait,
where Kuwaiti musicians such as Ahmad Baqer and Yousef
al-Mehanna composed songs for her. In 1981 she got married
to the Egyptian musician Hilmi Bakr, who composed some
of her marvelous songs.
Alli Gara is a composition
of Hilmi Bakr. This song was to become famous only after
her death, and was performed first by the Syrian singer
Asala Nasri, in 1997, and later on by several other new
singers. Jari Ya Hammouda
is a popular Tunisian song composed by Ahmad Hamza. |
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