The Birth of Philly's Middle Eastern Music Scene: Ed Tayoun and His Arabian Orchestra
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Mitri el-Murr: An Antiochian Orthodox Cantor Visits the United States
Mitri el-Murr: An Antiochian Orthodox Cantor Visits the United States Young Mitri-el Murr. Courtesy of Jack Rabah. Antiochian Orthodox priest and cantors churned out more than their share of 78 rpm discs from the 1920s to the 1950s. These included compositions and/or performances by Rev. Agapios Golam , Metropolitan Germanos Chehade , Archbishop Samuel David , and Rev. Ilyas T. Kurban . Arguably the most commercially successful of these was Metropolitan Germanos Chehade, the defiant archbishop known widely for his musical talent and one of Baidaphon’s leading religious singers. Mitri el-Murr or “Mitri eff. El-Mourr” stood out as arguably one of the most prolific composers and vocalists to headline on Baidaphon and record in the Byzantine tradition. Long the focus of students and scholars of Greek, Arabic, and Byzantine chant, scholars debate his legacy, the originality of his compositions, and the ways to best reproduce his work as he intended. Nevertheless, his 78 rpm recording...
On Radio & Record: The Pioneering Piano Music of Elizabeth Awad
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On Radio & Record: The Pioneering Piano Music of Elizabeth Awad Elizabeth Awad, circa 1970s. Courtesy of Diane G. & Donald N. In 1928 and 1929, Columbia Records 50000-X series of Arabic-language 78-rpm shellac discs recorded in the United States. Today, collectors rarely, if ever come across these exclusive discs. A few by Aziza Helmi, Prince Mouhadin , and Nahim Simon, have surfaced but others remain rare and/or unseen by living collectors and researchers. One musician we’ve discussed before, in our profile on Abraham Messadi , was oudist Toufic Moubaid. We mentioned the musician Moubaid collaborated with on radio and several early recordings, Elizabeth Awad, in passing. This post, however, hopes to shine a spotlight on pianist Elizabeth Awad. Before they made their way to Columbia Studios at 233 Broadway in Manhattan’s Woolworth Building, Toufic Moubaid and Elizabeth Awad regularly appeared together on radio and one of the first radio programs to feature Ar...