Abdulmunim Shakir: A Pan-Arab Political Activist and Educator Declares “I Am a Muslim” on a rare 78 RPM Record
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From The Derbecki Trio to the Derbecki Ensemble: The Group at the Heart of Cleveland’s Arabic Music Scene
From The Derbecki Trio to the Derbecki Ensemble: The Group at the Heart of Cleveland’s Arabic Music Scene The Derbecki Trio (Eddie Hakal, Eddie Shaheen, and Labbie George) with Laurice Peters. Hafla: Echoes of the Middle East album. Courtesy of Richard M. Breaux collection. Just over four years ago, back in 2021, we featured the singing of Cleveland’s Laurice Peters . Peters had recently passed away and we explored her music career beginning with her joining the Derbecki Trio in 1957. Over the years, however, between 1949 and 1980, the trio had two core members - Eddie Shaheen and Labbie George - and a host of accompanying singers and oudist who rounded out the band making it the Derbecki Ensemble . The only other musician, although not an original member, to remain with the Derbecki Ensemble for its entire recording career was Edward Hakal . We’ve back tracked to tell the story of the core members and those who came and went as time passed and other opportunities presented themselves....
George Marge: The Lebanese American Woodwind Musician You Didn’t Know You Knew
George Marge: The Lebanese American Woodwind Musician You Didn’t Know You Knew George Marge, Albany High School yearbook (1952) p. 30. Courtesy of Ancestry.com Few Arab American musicians featured on Midwest Mahjar have more recorded music credits to their name than George Marge. No single blog-post could ever do George Marge's life or career justice. Here, however, is a snippet. That I know, George Marge never released any wholly solo projects or albums. He backed and accompanied several musicians featured on our blog including Eddie “The Sheik” Kochack and Lila Stephan , and recorded with a who’s who of popular, jazz, and R&B musicians in his relatively short fifty-two years. With over two hundred recording credits to his name, let’s relay some of what we learned about oboist, flutist, saxophone and clarinet player George Marge. George Marge was born to Charles and Victoria (Arwady) Marge on 19 June 1933 in Albany, New York. Charles immigrated to the United States from Beir...