Comments on: Tunesday: traditional Arabic music

By: Lex

Lex — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:08:26 +0000

Thanks, Dawn! I love it, might be that i’m a sucker for anything with a doumbek…they have some of the brightest tones that you’ll ever hear from a drum…ah, i had a beautiful one, but i pulled it out of the soft-case after a trans-Pacific journey and it was in eight sad pieces.

Too bad i’m 400+ miles away from civilization, the tunes make me want to go out for an Arabic dinner tonight.

By: Dawn

Dawn — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 02:56:07 +0000

Russ – Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is wonderful, listening you can certainly imagine finding that inspirational place (what is it – wajad?)

I feel the same way about the banning of many traditional dances.

By: Russ Wellen

Russ Wellen — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 01:37:53 +0000

Yeah, they sound great. Thanks for turning us on to them, Dawn. A little farther east, I used to listen to a lot of Qawwali music: the Sabri Brothers and the late, great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Sometimes, I think Nusrat was lucky to have died before 9/11. It’s hard to believe Islamic fundamentalists ban music.

By: Ubertramp

Ubertramp — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:58:52 +0000

Cool. I was wondering what she was doing since Vas hasn’t done anything since Feast of Silence.

By: Dawn

Dawn — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:37:58 +0000

Ubertramp – Azam Ali also performs as part of Niyaz out of LA. Their self titled album is recorded in Urdu/Farsi. Nice stuff. I had not heard of Tinariwen – but I liked what I found on Last.fm. Thanks.

Mike – If you like Nabeel Shuail, perhaps you would be interested to know more about the Khaliji style of music and dance. Also next time you are in Last.fm try Warda or type in belly dance and play the radio. You’ll get all kinds of similar artists.

Happy listening.

By: Mike Sheehan

Mike Sheehan — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:29:11 +0000

Not sure if he qualifies as traditional Arab music, but I'm a big fan (thanks to a friend of mine from Jordan) of Kuwait's Nabeel Shuail, even though I have no idea what he's singing about. His voice is amazing. I also really dig Egypt's Reda Darwish. At any rate, thanks for a fascinating post, Dawn!

By: Ubertramp

Ubertramp — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:12:01 +0000

Cool. I’ll have to look into this. I don’t have a lot of middle eastern music. I guess Loreena McKinnet has some some noticeable influences, but it’s certainly not a focus. Azam Ali and Vas are a bit closer, but sprinkle in some Indian sounds. I’m not sure what the heck you’d call Tinariwen, but they’re kinda in the same area…kind of an electrified version, I guess. And my student turned me on to Mohammed Reza Shajarian…though, I admit I haven’t listened to it nearly enough. Maybe this will give me the kick in the head I need to learn more about it. Thanks!