How Boston's Little Syria and its Music Scene Gave Birth to Tony Tawa & his Near East Caravan
How Boston's Little Syria and it's Music Scene Gave Birth to Tony Tawa & his Near East Caravan Tony Tawa, circa 1964. Boston Globe 7 July 1964. Newspapers.com Research interest in Boston’s Little Syria and Arab Boston metro area has skyrocketed in the last four years. Some of this interest springs from academic and public history seeking to document the long history of Arab immigrant and Arab American community building, cultural expression, employment and entrepreneurial opportunities, night clubs, and labor histories. At Midwest Mahjar we have profiled or featured several Arabic-speaking musicians from Boston and a few half-dozen more who resided in Massachusetts at various points in their careers. There was, of course, Russell Bunai , Tony Abdelahad , Lila Stephan , and Ronnie Kirby , who were in the state for most of their lives. Others like Rev. Theodore Ziton and Rev. Ilyas Kurban spent a portion of their priestly careers with brief stints in and around Boston.