For Hanukkah, Something Completely Different: a Jewish Bluegrass Band

For Hanukkah, here's something you don't see every day: a Jewish bluegrass group. Nefesh Mountain was founded by an American couple, Doni Zasloff and Eric Lindberg, joined by other bluegrass musicians. The band's website is here.

My own only previous bluegrass post on this blog was back when Doc Watson died in 2012, and I needed to reach wildly for that gospel music often mentions the River Jordan), but this time I'm posting Hanukkah songs during Hanukkah.

It;s impressive how smoothly Jewish folk melodies merge with bluegrass.

Here's a good introduction, Esa Einai, based on Psalm 121 (I will lift my eyes unto the mountains):


While living in Coney Island with a Jewish Mother-in-Law, Woody Guthrie wrote a couple of Hanukkah songs. Here,"Hanukkah's Flame," and "Hanukkah Dance," both by Woody Guthrie:



Finally an "Old Time Medley," the first song of which, "Down to the River to Pray," is an old standard of gospel bluegrass, with lyrics adjusted to provide Old Testament references.

For Christmas Week, More Fairuz Carols in Arabic

I know I've been posting Fairuz singing Western carols with Arabic lyrics; I'll post her and other artists singing traditional Eastern music as the Eastern date of Christmas approaches. For "Silent Night," see my weekend post.

Jingle Bells:




Go Tell it on the Mountain:




Angels we Have Heard on High:



Her version of "Joy to the World" is about Beirut;



God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen:

Theodore Bikel, 1924-2015: Folksinger for the Ages

A rather long post is coming this afternoon. Meanwhile: When the irreplaceable folk singer Pete Seeger died early last year, I ran a couple of posts about Seeger and the Middle East. One of these was to note a collaboration, as I described it then: "Pete Seeger, that other great [Jewish] folksinger Theodor Bikel, and Palestinian-Israeli poet Rashid Hussain sing about peace in Hebrew on Seeger's Rainbow Quest show in 1965. The song is "Hineh Mah Tov," meaning "How good and pleasant it is to sit as brothers together" (taken from Psalm 133). Unfortunately it's audio only."

The great Theodore Bikel has now left us at the age of 91, He could reportedly sing in 21 languages and was a great raconteur in several of them, so I must repeat it, again crediting my Managing Editor Jake Passel for introducing me to this:

Paris Court Rules "King of Raï" Cheb Khaled's First Big Hit was Plagiarized

Blogging has been light due to deadlines, but there's big trouble in the Arabic music world, especially for fans of the Algerian folk form known as raï. A court in Paris has ruled that Algerian-born singer Cheb Khaled, known as the "King of Raï," is guilty of plagiarizing his 1993 hit "Didi," the hit that made him an international star.

See also this report and, in French, this one and this one. The court ruled the song was plagiarized from another another singer, who sings as Cheb Rabah, and that the song's success deprived Cheb  Rabah of the opportunity for a more lucrative career. The court imposed €100,000 in compensation and another €100,000 in punitive damages. Cheb Khaled (born Khaled Hadj Ibrahim: raï  singers are called "Cheb" or "young man" though Khaled is now 55) reportedly will appeal.

I'll link to this YouTube video though they may well take it down now:

Auld Lang Syne as the Auld Scots Tongue Ought to be Sung

I can't beat Dubai in the previous post, but the auld Scots songs like "Auld Lang Syne" ought to be sung by auld Scots. Some of this version (by the male singer) is in Scots Gaelic, the rest in good Lallans:

A Happy New Year 2015 to all my readers.

'Tis the Season for Fairuz Singing Christmas Carols in Arabic

As Western Christmas approaches I offer Fairuz singing Christmas carols in Arabic. (Fairuz recently turned 80, so the first clip is pretty old.)

Jingle Bells:



Silent Night:



Go Tell it on the Mountain:



More to come.

Famous Lebanese Singer Sabah Dies at Age 87

Sabah in her prime

The great Lebanese singer and actress known as Sabah has died at the age of 87.  Born Jeanette Gergis al-Feghali to a Maronite Christian family in 1927, she was a prolific singer (reportedly 3,500 songs and least 50 albums), film actress (98 films, mostly made in Egypt), and bride (at least 7 and perhaps as many as 10 husbands, still a matter of dispute in the Arab celebrity tabloids).

She was one of the most senior singing divas of the Arab world, not equaling the late Umm Kulthoum or Fairuz, but certainly in the first rank. From the 1940s into her declining years she continued to entertain. (And marry: the dispute over the number of husbands stems from knowing at least one purported marriage was a publicity stunt and another perhaps an April fool's joke. Reports that she married her longtime hairdresser/caretaker in 2012 when she was 85 have been disputed. At least seven marriages seems undisputed. And there were rumors of affairs as well.

She is widely believed to have had frequent plastic surgeries,which combined with her marriage habit have led to numerous jokes, which I will not repeat. De mortuis nil nisi bonum.

In recent years she has been frequently hospitalized and there have been multiple rumors of her death. This one, however,does not appear to be a rumor. I'm no expert on her music, but for the true fans among you, one fan has a one hour and 40 minute collection on YouTube:
 

Excess Meets Excess: Lady Gaga Arrives in Dubai on Mideast Tour

Lady Gaga has arrived in Dubai for her first concert. The world has not ended, and in fact she has reportedly said she will dress modestly out of respect for local sensibilities..

Confirming that celebrities are not in fact bound by the same rules as the rest of us, Israeli press reports say she will fly directly from Dubai to her next gig in Tel Aviv. I thought only John Kerry got to do that.

Easter Greetings (to East and West Together, This Year)

Most years I have to do two sets of Easter Greetings since some Middle Eastern and most Western Christian readers celebrate on the Latin date, while most of the Middle East observes the Eastern date.

This is one of the years when the dates coincide, however, so I can offer Easter greetings to Christian readers everywhere on the same date.

And since today is Good Friday, I thought I'd link to an earlier post about an Egyptian musical historian who claims that the Coptic Good Friday hymn Golgotha is a survival of the tune used to bury the Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt and thus may be "The Oldest Tune in History." That is debatable at best, but here is the hymn with Coptic and English subtitles:

Egypt Has Survived Wars, Revolutions, and Even the Biblical Plagues of Moses. But THIS?

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Signs of the Apocalypse, or What?

I'll let you make up your own jokes, but I'm not sure this advances peace or democratic change in the Middle East:

Justin Bieber will play in Cairo in April.

And Lady Gaga will be in Tel Aviv in September.

Update: on the other hand, the Rolling Stones, still drawing crowds though they're older than I am, recently played in Abu Dhabi.

Umm Kulthum Left the Building 39 Years Ago Today

A lot of Arabs, and pretty much all Egyptians, agree that Umm Kulthum was the greatest Arab singer of all time. Her death on February 3, 1975, 39 years ago today, did not dim her fame, and her music remains popular. Her funeral procession rivaled Nasser's; her former home is marked by a statue, and there is a museum (bearing her title Kawkab al-Sharq, "Star of the East") displaying her memorabilia. Like Elvis, her fame has survived her by decades, though neither they nor their music otherwise resemble each other.

All her performances were lengthy; in this one the singing doesn't begin for some time.

Another Memory of Pete Seeger

Thanks to MEJ Managing Editor Jake Passel for this as we all remember Pete Seeger: Pete Seeger, that other great folksinger Theodor Bikel, and Palestinian-Israeli poet Rashid Hussain sing about peace in Hebrew on Seeger's Rainbow Quest show in 1965. The song is "Hineh Mah Tov," meaning "How good and pleasant it is to sit as brothers together" (taken from Psalm 133). Unfortunately its audio only.

Pete Seeger and Israel

Pete Seeger has died at the age of 94. Besides being one of the founding fathers of the American folk music revival of the mid-20th Century, he was a lifelong activist even during the depths of the McCarthy Era, and an avid advocate for peace, opposing the US wars in Vietnam, Central America, Iraq and Afghanistan. As various Israeli and Jewish appreciations of his career are noting, however, his views on Israel remained somewhat ambivalent. As Ha'aretz notes:

Three years ago, Seeger came out in support of a boycott against Israel, according to a press release from the Israel Committee Against House Demolition (ICAHD).

He later clarified his position, telling JTA that his position on Israel was constantly evolving.

Seeger told JTA by phone in 2011 that he “probably” made comments that supported a boycott of Israel, but added that he was still learning a lot about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and his opinions wavered "with each piece of information.”

Seeger also took part in a 2010 online peace rally “With Earth and Each Other,” in support of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in southern Israel.

The Times of Israel also notes Seeger's shifting views.

He seems to have been attracted to the socialist ideals of the early Israeli state, but opposed to the occupation after 1967.

Ironically, as Richard Silverstein reminds us, one early 1950s hit by Seeger and his group The Weavers was an Israeli song, Tzena, Tzena, Tzena; there was subsequently a court battle over the rights in which the original Israeli author was vindicated. It was released as the flip side of Good Night, Irene, which rose to the Number One hit in the US.

Seeger (second from left) and The Weavers:

More Fairuz for the Holidays

An Arabic version of "Go Tell it on  the Mountain":



And of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlmen":

It's Just Two Weeks Until Christmas, So It's Time for Fairuz . . .

Unlike places that start the Muzak carols right after Halloween, I'll only start now.

Fairuz singing "Jingle Bells" in Arabic:

Dissident Poet of the Poor Ahmad Fuad Negm, 1929-2013

As Egypt's revolutionary moment increasingly seems a distant memory, its most famous revolutionary poet, Ahmad Fuad Negm, has died at the age of 84. For over three decades his revolutionary lyrics were combined with the musical genius and oud playing of the blind composer Sheikh Imam to provoke a powerful blend of radical, satirical lyrics and powerful music. The partnership endured from their meeting in 1962 until they eventually quarreled prior to Sheikh Imam's death in 1995.

A Younger Negm (l.) and Sheikh Imam

Born in a Delta village and partly raised in an orphanage, Negm lived all his life in the poorer quarters in Cairo, and spent time in prison as a youth. His work was usually banned from state media so he wrote, and he and Sheikh Imam sang, in coffeehouses and before student groups. His poetry celebrated the oppressed workers and fellahin, and satirically skewered he ruling elites. It was a voice of the left; as M. Lynx Qualey notes in her appreciation at Arabic Literature (in Translation):

Promotional material on Alwan for the Arts once stated that, “if the Internationale were to have been written in Arabic, its author would likely have been Ahmed Fouad Negm.”

He died just two weeks before he was to be awarded the Prince Claus Award. Their tribute, now in past tense, reads:

Ahmed Fouad Negm (1929-2013, Kafr Abu Najm) was a master poet, fearless social and political critic, and beloved advocate of the poor and the disenfranchised. Rooted in local working class culture, he had been a perceptive public intellectual and a much-loved balladeer of the people for many decades. Negm was both an icon and a folk hero, renowned in literary circles for the quality, lyricism and beauty of his work, from love songs to radical satires that take the complex, highly nuanced vernacular Arabic to unprecedented poetic levels. He was celebrated on the streets of Cairo and across the Arab world for giving voice to the spirit of the people’s movement for social justice.
       Negm drew creatively on the rich colloquial language, its rhythms and traditions of song, invocation and especially humour, to give vibrant expression to the people’s concerns and aspirations. Since the 1960s, he criticised the succession of authoritarian regimes and elites in Egypt – from British colonial times onwards – exposing their willingness to oppress and impoverish people, their abuse of power, their self-serving deceptions, hypocrisies and corruption. Achieving this through hilarious caricatures, double meanings, reworked slogans, satiric mimicry and devastating irony, Negm uplifted, encouraged and inspired people, keeping hope alive in the face of tyranny.
       Liberal and open-minded, Negm reminded his audiences of Egypt’s heritage of ethnic and religious diversity, its deep pluralist and humanist roots and universal values of mutual co-existence and social solidarity. In the 1970s and 80s, when such public performances were outlawed, Negm's charismatic underground performances with legendary musician Sheik Imam were well attended despite great personal risk. Combining poetry and music in this traditional form, Negm spread his message to the widest possible audience including the illiterate and reached populations across the Middle East through samizdat cassette tapes. And today his stirring message is still highly relevant – many young Egyptians know his poems by heart, chant them on the streets, use them in graffiti and posters, and reinterpret them in new music.
       Ahmed Fouad Negm is honoured for creating true poetry in vernacular Arabic that communicates deeply with people; for his independence, unwavering integrity, courage and rigorous commitment to the struggle for freedom and justice; for speaking truth to power, refusing to be silenced and inspiring more than three generations in the Arab-speaking world; for the aesthetic and political force of his work highlighting the basic need for culture and humour in harsh and difficult circumstances; and for his significant impact on Arabic poetry bringing recognition to the rich literary potential of the colloquial language.

An earlier appreciation by Al Jazeera English here.


Zeinobia offers a tribute and is Storifying the funeral.

Egyptian media in English at Ahram Online, Daily News Egypt, Egypt Independent (Al-Masry al-Youm), and Mada Masr.

Other English appreciations by The Washington Post, and The Guardian.

But eulogies and obituaries are not the way to remember a poet who moved the masses. A poem and an excerpt from  a selection of Negm poems translated (with the original Arabic) by Walaa Quisay at the Revolutionary Arabic Poetry (in Translation) site.

First, "What's Wrong with our President?": 

(What’s wrong with our president?) ماله الريس?

English Translation

I never fret, and will always say
A word, for which, I am responsible
That the president is a compassionate man
Constantly, busy working for his people
Busy, gathering their money
Outside, in Switzerland, saving it for us
In secret bank accounts
Poor guy, looking out for our future
Can’t you see his kindly heart?
In faith and good conscience
He only starves you; so you’d lose the weight
O what a people! In need of a diet
O the ignorance! You talk of “unemployment”
And how condition have become dysfunctional
The man just wants to see you rested
Since when was rest such a burden???
And this talk of the resorts
Why do they call them political prisons??
Why do you have to be so suspicious?
He just wants you to have some fun
With regards to “The Chair[1]”
It is without a doubt
All our fault!!
Couldn’t we buy him a Taflon Chair?
I swear, you mistreated the poor man
He wasted his life away, and for what?
Even your food, he eats it for you!
Devouring all that’s in his way
After all this, what’s wrong with our president?

[Power]

Arabic Original

أنا مابخفش وحفضل أقول
كلمة حق عليها مسؤل
إن الريس راجل طيب
وبشعبه دايماًَ مشغول
مشغول إنه يلم فلوسهم
بره سويسرا يحوشهلنا
وف حسبات سريه يشلها ....نفسه يأمن مستقبلنا
شفتوا إزاي بقه قلبه رحيم
عنده إيمان وضميره سليم
بيجوعكوا لجل تخسوا
آه يا شعب محتاج لرجيم
من جهلكوا بتقولوا بطاله
وإن الأحوال مش شغاله
دا الراجل نفسه يريحكم
هي الراحه تبقي عواله ؟؟
أما حكاية المنتجعات
ليه بتسموها معتقلات ؟؟؟؟
ليه الظن...... وسوء النيه
نفسه يفسحكوا يا بهوات
أما الكرسي واللى تقال
دا كلام مش محتاج لسؤال
الغلطه دي غلطتنا يا عالم
إن مجبناش كرسي تيفال
والله إنتوا ظالمين الراجل
ضيع عمره ومين يستاهل
حتى الأكل بيكله بدالنا
طالع واكل نازل واكل
ماله الريس بعد دا كله ؟؟؟

Excerpt from "We support Your Excellency" (excerpt from a much longer poem, so do follow the link):

(We support your Excellency) نؤيد سيادتك لفترة جديدة 

English Translation

We support your Excellency for another term
In which we will continue the happy march
Maybe we can sell the curb
As there is nothing more one can sell

We support your Excellency to achieve more
Than what has already been accomplished under your reign for sure
We are now at last under the mercy of God
And God alone can have mercy on us

We pledge allegiance to your Excellency and no one else
It’s quite enough for us to swarm in your luxury
The people of Egypt are sound asleep
Which tells the thieves, to steal on

Arabic Original

نؤيد سيادتك لفترة جديدة
نكمل خلالها المسيرة السعيدة
و بالمرة فيها نبيع الحديدة
مفيش حاجة تانية نبيعها خلاص
*****
نؤيد سيادتك لأجل المزيد
من اللي تحقق بفضلك أكيد
بقينا خلاص ع الحميد المجيد
و ربك لوحده ف ايده الخلاص
*****
نبايع سيادته ولا حد غيره
كفايا علينا نبرطع في خيره
و نوم شعب مصر العظيمة و شخيره
يقول للحرامي ما تسرق كمان
*****

He was, of course, a strong supporter of the 2011 Revolution.

Dispatches from the Sidelines of the Culture Wars

It's been a while since we've looked at the lighter side of the culture wars in the Middle East. This in no way is intended to minimize the darker side, so visible in this weekend's drive-by shooting of a Coptic wedding in Imbaba, Egypt, presumably by Islamists, that left four dead, including a young girl. Those grim events are the front lines; these are reports from the less depressing sidelines.

• Usually, Arab countries carefully screen and censor movies before permitting their release. In Dubai, recently, however, a Sylvester Stallone/Arnold Schwarzenegger movie called Escape Plan was shut down halfway through. (I've never heard of the film, but given the age of these two action heroes, are they escaping from an old folks' home? Are there wheelchair chases?) (Before you complain, I'm a senior citizen myself. I just don't star in action films.) Anyway,  according to  The National, the showing at the Ibn Battuta Mall's Grand Cinema was stopped in mid-film when it was discovered a character in the film curses in Arabic. Somehow that had apparently been missed by the original censors.  The National does not enlighten us as to what was actually said.

•  You've probably already heard that the singer Rihanna is being criticized for posing at the Shaikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi. She was fully and conservatively covered but some of the shots are posed in ways the authorities did not consider appropriate for Abu Dhabi's crown jewel mosque.

•  In Paris recently, Egyptian novelist Alaa al-Aswany (The Yacoubian Building) was giving a talk to the Institut du Monde Arabe when demonstrators opposed to the Egyptian coup and apparently supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood interrupted and then disrupted his talk, leading to at least one broken window and Aswany being rushed out of the hall. (Le Monde's account, in French, is here.) Video: 

• "Turkey Opens First Online Islamic Sex Shop."  Another report here. Since I don't read Turkish, I can't comment directly, but quote from Ahram Online:

The "Halal Sex Shop" website presents its products as being "entirely safe," and in compliance with Islamic norms.

Internet users who enter the site find two different links directing them to separate sections for male and female products.

Other sections of the website are designed to discuss sex in the context of Islam under various headings: "Oral sex according to Islam", "Sex manners in Islam" and "Sexual life in Islam."

The anonymous founders of the website said they believed the online shop would help correct prejudices against Islam which they claimed is perceived as "against sex."

• Finally, the headline "Union Formed to Represent Tunisian Rappers," may strike you as funny at first, but perhaps not if you read it in conjunction with "Tunisia Rapper Acquitted on Appeal."

A 20th Century Egyptian Trinity

I don't know when or where, but this photo is an amazing juxtaposition:

Umm Kulthum on the left, Naguib Mahfouz in the middle, and Tawfiq al-Hakim in his inevitable beret, gesturing at right.

Now that would have been a dinner conversation.

Umm Kulthum Hologram

The idea of holographic recreations of dead artists seems to be catching on; for the opening of MBC Egypt they created a hologram of the late Oum Kulthoum. Apparently this aired in November but has only now gone viral in the Arab world. For an earlier post on Oum Kulthum, see here.