Music
Music By Region
Music from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf
By Kay Hardy Campbell
Traditional music in Saudi Arabia and neighboring Arab Gulf countries arose from now-vanished ways of life — the Bedouin, pearl divers and fishermen, farmers, long-distance traders, and the blending of cultures in the old Arabian cities. Its hallmarks are syncopated rhythms played on an orchestra of drums, tunes set to verse about love and bravery, and unusual instruments like lyres and small clay pots used for drumming. There are touches of Africa, India and Egypt in the old songs. You can still hear them at weddings and folk festivals like Saudi Arabia's annual fair at Janadriyyah outside the capital Riyadh.
Modern Gulf music usually keeps some elements of the old styles, but layers on echoes of Mumbai, New York, Algeria, Beirut and Cairo. It's vibrant and catchy, even if you don't understand a word of Arabic.
Favorite Tracks
Muhammad Abdu: Leading Saudi singer and composer Muhammad Abdu helped bring the classical urban Arabian sound to the wider Arab world, working in both large-orchestra and small-ensemble formats. His CD series "Sha abiyyat," or "Folk Songs," features an ensemble of qanun (lap-plucked zither), ud (fretless short-necked lute), violin and percussion. Like folk tunes from southern Saudi Arabia and nearby Yemen, the melody line and Abdu's vocalizations on "La" wander high and low, calling to mind the region's mountainous terrain. Though more than 10 years old, the CD series is still popular with discerning regional listeners who prize sung poetry set to songs with a distinctive Arabian feel.
"Ma'ak al-Tahiyyah" by Muhammad Abdu:
Miami Band: Each track of "Miami 2005" by Kuwait's Miami Band stirs up sounds and cultures in an unabashedly manic musical soup. Indian flutes play over Latin drums. Phones ring, car horns honk, and rockets blast off. The song "Halaa," or "Hello," starts with a phone caller gushing "Greetings of roses and amber, of aloeswood incense, of salt and sugar and perfume." The refrain in a traditional, fast 6/8 rhythm greets everyone: "Wherever you are, in all creation, morning or night, of whatever color." Then the instruments drop away, and the opening greetings are sung folk-song style with drumming, tasfiq (syncopated clapping), and zaghareed (trilling cries of celebration). A pounding, multi-toned 4/4 beat takes over, before a rocket blasts off at the end, leaving you dizzy and breathless.
"Halaa" by Miami Band
On the Web
Hear streaming Khaliji music on Dubai's Arabian Radio Network at http://www.arnonline.com . Its Al Khaleejiyah station features popular music by Gulf artists.
For more on Saudi folk music with audio samples, visit: http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200702/saudi.folk.music.alive.and.well.htm
About
Former Saudi Arabia resident Kay Hardy Campbell is a writer and musician who helps direct the Arabic Music Retreat at Mount Holyoke College.
Music from Iran
By Arash Saedinia
It may come as a surprise that Iran once had a vibrant pop music scene. In fact, Persian popular music blossomed in the Sixties and Seventies, synthesizing indigenous traditions with Western influences. Many of the pieces from that period are among the finest left-field psychedelic, rock, funk, and folk songs to have emerged from the Global South. The popular revolution of 1978-79 and the consolidation of state power by Muslim clerics transformed Iranian society. Pop records were banned; many were destroyed. The music industry was dismantled. Some artists and producers fled the country; some stayed. Many relocated to Los Angeles, which boasts so large an Iranian community it is often referred to as "Tehrangeles." A few labels in L.A. pump out contemporary Persian pop. Iranian pop records of the Sixties and Seventies feature live instruments, ranging from traditional percussion to electric guitars and analog synthesizers. The influence of American, European, and Latin rhythms and sounds is evident in the work of many artists.
Favorite Tracks
Kourosh Yaghmaie, one of the great artists of the era, was profoundly influenced by Western popular music. Here are two examples of his songs:
"Ghazal" is a rousing psychedelic rocker:
"Gole-Yakh" is a baroque pop classic:
On the Web
Fars Funk website: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=80997840
B-Music Label: http://www.b-music.co.uk/
About
Arash Saedinia is an artist and educator. He is co-curating "Pomegranates," a collection of vintage Persian pop records, which will be released on the B-Music label this spring.
Music from Lebanon
By Bashar Barazi
Today's music scene in Lebanon is as diverse and varied as the ethnic and religious sects who dominate the political headlines. As wide as the political divide, so is the chasm within the music blaring from chic café radios, in taxi cabs, or at any of the trendy night clubs where the youth dance the night away. A massive explosion in commercial pop music, aided by glossy video images and easy access via the internet, has created many teen idols.
Favorite Tracks:
Nancy Ajram: A bubbly, young singer with a string of pop hits and well-crafted music videos, Nancy Ajram's synth-heavy songs unite the new generation on dance floors from Beirut to Casablanca.
Fairuz: In the face of this age of consumerism, Fairuz, the legendary Lebanese singer and international icon, continues to be the most popular and revered singer, not only in Lebanon but the entire Arab world. With every sunrise, radio stations from the Atlantic to the Euphrates start their broadcasts with her angelic voice. Her songs, such as the iconic Sallimleh Alayh, color the mosaic of every day life for all Lebanese. Even now, her concerts bring together old and young, liberal and conservative, Muslim and Christian.
About
Bashar Barazi is president of 3B Media, Inc. parent company to MAQAM. MAQAM is a distributor and online retailer of Middle Eastern music, film, and instruments.
Music from Egypt
By Ted Swedenburg
Cairo has been the center of musical production in the Arab world since the 20th century, due to its dominance of the radio airwaves, cinema, and record production. The giants of Egypt's "golden age," from the 1940s through the 1970s, like Umm Kalthoum, Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab and Abdel Halim Havez, are still beloved today. They are regularly heard and seen on radio and television broadcasts. Today it is a more pop- and dance-oriented music, known as shababi, that predominates on radio, cassette and, especially, in television video clips. and featuring stars like Amr Diab and up-and-comer Ruby. But there are also important alternative genres that emerge from the urban "street." Among the most important are sha'abi ("popular") and Sufi inshad.
Favorite Tracks
Hakim: One of the giants of sha'abi, which emerged out of Egypt's working class and popular districts in the sixties and seventies and is rooted in Egypt's folk traditions—but with speeded-up rhythms, raucous vocals and street-slang lyrics dealing with everyday urban concerns.
Shaykh Yasin al-Tuhami: Probably Egypt's premier Sufi munshid, singing songs of praise to the Prophet Muhammad and his family, and traditional Sufi love poetry, frequently to throngs of tens of thousands who congregate at Egypt's numerous mulids or saints' festivals, which combine rites of devotion with a carnival-like atmosphere.
On the Web
Ted Swedenburg's Hawgblawg: http://swedenburg.blogspot.com/
For in-depth analysis of the Middle East, visit Middle East Report On-Line: http://www.merip.org
About
Ted Swedenburg is a professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Arkansas.
