Music from Yemen Arabia • Samar

Music from Yemen Arabia 
• Samar
Lyrichord - LLST 7284



Side A

A1 Leish Teguig 5'20
A2 Al Sabah 6'55
A3 Keef Faish 11'15

Side B

B1 A'Zaffer 21'30

Hassan al Zabeede, ud - track A1, A3
Salim Ibrahim, derbooga - track A1, A3

In the evening, Yemeni friends gather to talk, listen to music, smoke tobacco, chew the narcotic leaf quat and drink scented water and ginger spiced coffee. They call this time Samar, the “delicious time”, “luxury time”, “the time when happiness becomes longer”.

North Yemen lies in the southwest corner of the Arabian peninsula facing the Red Sea. Apart from the humid coastal plain called the Tihama, it is a mountainous country with plateaux ranging from 4,000 to 9,000 feet. About ninety percent of the population are agriculturalists growing coffee, the narcotic quat, grain, fruit, and vegetables. Mountain Yemen was the site of the ancient civilizations of the Minaeans, Sabaeans, and Himyarites. The Queen of Sheba or Saba came from Yemen. Yemen adopted the Islamic religion in the 7th century AD. In the north there are the Zeidi Shia-Muslims, and in the south and the Tihama the Shafei Sunni-Muslims. North Yemeni society is almost entirely tribal and many of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the country are tribal leaders.

Mohammed al Kawkabani, qanun - track A3, B1
Saad al Kawkabani, ud - track A3, B1




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Music from Yemen Arabia • Sanaani - Laheji - Adeni

 Music from Yemen Arabia
• Sanaani - Laheji - Adeni
Recordings from 1973 by Ragnar Johnson
Lyrichord - LLST 7283



Side A

A1 You Said That You Would Forget Me 12'30
A2 Wa Seed Ana Lak Min Al Khodan 6'45
A3 Ana Mush Areemak 6'45

Side B

B1 Tabal Samar 7'40
B2 Wa Mogarred Bi Wadi Aldoore 6'50
B3 Ya Sabooh al Enab  10'25




Hassan al Zabeede, ud - track A3, B1
Salim Ibrahim, derbooga - track A3, B1



Mohammed al Kawkabani, qanun - track A1, A2, B2
Saad al Kawkabani, ud - track A1, A2, B2

These records from Yemen (the second will appear shortly) have really captured that very feeling of time standing still without any particular need to struggle forwards. It is confident in itself and needs neither progress nor improvement. I post these records to satisfy a long standing request by a very special friend and hope that they shall find their way to his and and all others sensitive ears. There is much information about the songs on both record sleeves and the text below is only a brief intro. I hope you enjoy!


North Yemen lies in the southwest corner of the Arabian peninsula facing the Red Sea. Apart from the humid coastal plain called the Tihama, it is a mountainous country with plateaux ranging from 4,000 to 9,000 feet. About ninety percent of the population are agriculturalists growing coffee, the narcotic quad, grain, fruit, and vegetables. Mountain Yemen was the site of the ancient civilizations of the Minaeans, Sabaeans, and Himyarites. The Queen of Sheba or Saba came from Yemen. Yemen adopted the Islamic religion in the 7th century AD. In the north there are the Zeidi Shia-Muslims, and in the south and the Tihama the Shafei Sunni-Muslims. North Yemeni society is almost entirely tribal and many of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the country are tribal leaders.

read more on the sleeve

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Music on the Desert Road - A Sound Travelogue by Deben Bhattacharya

Music on the Desert Road

- A Sound Travelogue by Deben Bhattacharya

Angel Records - 35515 - P.1958

Map of the travelled road...

Side A

A1 Turkey - Automobile on mountain Road - Central Anatolian Dance

A2 Turkey - Mevludin Nebevi (Religious chant)

A3 Syria - Rasd (Dervish song)

A4 Syria - Bedouin Song and Dance

A5 Jordan - Bedouin Coffee Grinding

A6 Iraq - Kesame-Meru (Kurdish ballad)

A7 Iran - Baba Karam (Love song)

Side B

B1 Iran - Rhythm of a Train (Drums)

B2 Iran - Humayun (Traditional melody)

B3 Afghanistan - Atan Dance Music

B4 Pakistan - Neemakai (Wedding folk song)

B5 India - Zila from Varanasi (Benares)

B6 India - Temple Bells and drums of a Bengali Kali Temple - Bhajan (Hindu devotional song, sung in Hindi)

Here is another record with some early recordings by Deben Bhattacharya that bears a close resemblance to the previous one I posted. Except this one takes us back again to India. I don't mind, that is where I want to be anyhow! It comes with an eight page full size leaflet to compensate for the totally uninformative black backside of the sleeve!

Some of the photos in it are great!

Tabl player

Nay player

Rababa player

Seems to be the very same picture as on the LP posted right before!

Santor player

Another picture of the young field recorder himself at work.

Cumbus player

Especially impressive do I find the photo of the Bedouin coffee percussionist...

The track of coffee grinding rhythm on the previous record is however more impressive than this one! The the last track with the bhajan also got me captured!

Hope you enjoy both the coffee and the rest of the music!

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Music from the Middle East - Recordings by Deben Bhattacharya

Music from the Middle East - Recordings by Deben Bhattacharya

Argo Records - ZRG 532 - P.1967

Side A

A1a Syria - Mawal 2'40

A1b Syria - Andalusi Muwashashah 9'43

A2 Syria - Water-seller in Damascus Market 1'21

A3 Syria - Flute-seller in Damasqus Market 1'36

A4 Syria - Derwish prayer music in maqam Segah 6'15

Side B

B1 Bedouine Camp Syrian Desert - Coffee grinding beats 2'37

B2 Bedouine Camp Syrian Desert - Ballad Bedouine 3'35

B3 Iraq - Ehlelawi 3'29

B4 Iraq - Tabl 2'41

B5 Palestine - Bedouine Love Song 3'08

B6 Palestine - Dabkeh al-a Dala'ona 2'58

B7 Palestine - Arabic Romance in maqam Seeka 4'37

Joudad Halibie,qanun, A1a, A1b

Mohammad Jabban, Ud, A1a, A1b

Hazim, rabab, B2

Al-Haj Hashim Mohammad Al-Rejab, santur, B3

Shu'aib Ibrahim, joza, B3

Abdul-Karim Al-Azawi, tabl, B3, B4

Audi Said Hattas, rebaba, vocal, B5

Shelim Awwad, Mijwiz, B6

Yousif Naif, vocal, B6

Sebag Yehuda, B7

It is time for some more Deben Bhattacharya, My friends have left India on their way back and they will soon be clooser to this music than the Carnatic. The classical indian music will stay a long time in their ears and it am sure it will never leave either them nor this blog. We shall come back to India soon enough but now lets here some Arabic music along the middle eastern countries. Time for some strong coffee with the Bedouins of Jordania and Iraq! This Coffe Grinding beat is even better than the one coming on the next Deben in the Desert ....

As always, I hope you enjoy!

Ud

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Don't you just feel uncomfortable when they chop off the head of the musicians !!!

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Qanun

Dancing Derwishes

Nay

Rababa

Water vendor in the market of Damascus

Smell the coffee Arvind and Costis ;-)

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EMI Pathé - Arabesques 2 - Muhammad Sabsabi - Qanun

Muhammad Sabsabi - Arabesques 2 - Qanun - Chitare classique au Liban

EMI Pathé -2C 066-95.158 - P.1974

Side A

A01 Kurdi 5'15

A02 Bayati 4'40

A03 Nahawand 5'35

Side B

B01 Saba 7'15

B02 Rast 8'10

Music ▼ +

EMI Pathé - Arabesques - Series of Arabic Instrumental Music

Here finally, is something I wanted to share for a long, long time. I have been editing and pruning for quite a while and only the last couple of days did it get close to the quality I like.

In the beginning of the seventies EMI Pathé started a series called Arabesques, oddly enough there is almost no traces of this production on the web. No reissues on CD to my knowledge, and nothing shared. A couple of questions in Mikes oud bulletin board, a dutch collector has some copies, occasionally there is an odd volume for sale. Actually there seems to be ten volumes all together. I only had five and now after all these years I can only find four. The ones I can locate are the three 'Ud records, and one Qanun. The missing one was nay, If someone has a copy of that I would be delighted! I remember it was good, but the player Selim Kusur I think has other solo nay records that may be available. He is a very good nay player and I am sure many of you are familiar with his music. He is well represented on many recordings and used to make frequent appearances in various ensembles on Syrian National TV. He is very good now but it would be nice to compare with what he sounded like back then, but alas, it is gone. Well it may appear by fluke, maybe it is just misplaced and hiding in some shelf.

To start this of properly here is the promotion folder that I kept for all these years. I still remember having only one of the volumes and now and then looking at this brochure, while waiting for the others to materialize.

This is the promotion brochure only, the music will start appearing in the following posts!

Just so you can read better what will come, and I feel confident that some of you will enjoy this: