Midwest Mahjar: The Recorded Sounds of the Arabic-Speaking Diaspora in the United States at 78 RPM

  Mike Hamway: Syrian American Derbakist Extraodinaire  Mike Hamway, Derbake Player. Courtesy of Richard M. Breaux collection. Usually in Arabic music ensembles, a lead singer, oudist, or violinist gets the majority of attention or have the opportunity to showcase their talents in an oud or violin taqsim. Derbake (dirbakeh, darbuka) players or drum players hardly ever warrant attention, but this month’s post changes all that. One of the most sought after, East Coast derbake players of the middle period was older than many of the other musicians with whom he performed. This fact also helps us understand his passing in the 1960s as the nightclub era was in its infancy. This derbake player is best known for performing with Anton Abdelahad , Joe Budway , Philip Solomon , and Russell Bunai . We’re talking about, of course – Mike Hamway. Mike Hamway was born Michayel Hamway 7 November 1892 in Aleppo, Syria. It’s unclear how many siblings he had or who taught him to play the derbake, but Ham

  Metropolitan Germanos Shehadi (Chehade): The Beloved Golden-Voiced Priest, Who Defied his Synod  Germanos Shehadi c. 1915. Photo courtesy of and permissions from  The Word , 61, 4 (2017), 6. Have you ever wondered how Arab American Antiochian Orthodox cantors with little or no formal musical training maintained and retained the musical traditions that are such an integral part of Arabic-language matins, divine liturgies, and vespers? Today, many Antiochian congregations have English-language only services. Increasingly the second, third, and fourth-generation Arab Americans, who happen to attend Antiochian Orthodox churches, don’t speak or understand Arabic. A few Antiochian Orthodox churches with larger congregations that still serve Syrian and Lebanese American communities and had more persistent flows of immigrants from the Middle East after 1965, like Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Brooklyn, New York, hold bi-lingual services in English and Arabic. The Basilica of Saint Mary Antioch

Abe Messadi and the Arabic Recording Corporation Record Label Abraham "Abe" Messadi, c. 1934. Photograph courtesy of Wayne M.  Most of our posts have focused on popular Arab American musicians or well-known Arab American record labels. On occasion we’ve highlighted the stories of little-known or less popular musicians on popular labels or well-known musicians on less-common labels. In this case, we’re featuring a far less-common label and far less-discussed musician. The Arabic Recording Company, Inc. was a little-known 1940s record label which, according to one newspaper advertisement, operated out of its 107 Lorimer Street address in Brooklyn, New York. Its parent company was the New York Record Corporation, an obscure start-up record business that operated from 1946-1952 from the fourth floor of the same address. The New York Record Corp ran a few want ads for a “press operator” and a “packing and shipping clerk” in the Brooklyn Eagle in 1946, but more impr

M.S. Hawie: An Arab American Poet and Orator Makes a Prohibition Record in 1920 M.S. Hawie in the 1920s.  Courtesy of Elizabeth M. (Hawie's niece).  By 1920, over a half dozen immigrants from Greater Syria had recorded for Columbia Phonograph Company, and slightly under a dozen total had recorded for Victor or Columbia together. Whether Arabic music sold well for either of the big phonograph record giants remains unclear, however, by the 1920s, these companies began to record fewer and fewer Arab American and Arab immigrant musicians and independently-owned Arab American record labels like Maloof and Macksoud emerged in their place. M.S. Hawie stands out in Dick Spottswood’s Ethnic Music on Records and in UCSB’s Discography of American Historical Recordings database as one of a dozen early Arab Americans to record not a song, but recitation of a speech called “Goodbye Whiskey” on Columbia in 1920. The recitation, of course, was an ode, of sorts, to Congres