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

  Sound, Light, and New York City's Little Syria: A Look at Michel Macksoud's Original "Radio Lab" Original photo appeared in Richmond Times Dispatch , December 4, 1955. Courtesy of Shutterstock.com Back in 2019, in our search for information about record shop and record label owner A.J. Macksoud , we learned about the Macksoud family.  The Macksouds were merchants in Manhattan’s and Brooklyn’s Little Syria. They owned a kimono manufacturing business, watch and jewelry stores, and, of course, Abraham J. Macksoud operated his record store since 1907 and a record label since around 1914 on Greenwich then Rector and finally Washington Street including 77, 88, and 89 Washington Street. At the same time A.J. Macksoud managed his phonograph record company, label, and record store, another Macksoud, an M.E. Macksoud , owned and operated his radio and radio components shop at 84 Washington Street.   Ad for M.E. Macksoud's Radio shop from Radio Digest , November 22, 1924....

  Mayer Murad, Nessim Murad, Zaki Murad, and the Murad Family Legacy of Recorded Sound in the US and Egypt Mayer Murad, Photo property of the Sephardic Heritage Museum. New York, New York. Zaki Murad, Photo courtesy of AMAR Foundation for Arabic Music Archiving & Research. Only known photographs of Nessim Murad. Photo courtesy of family member Stefanie B. Most people who know anything about the history of Arabic music, record collecting, or Arab or Arab American 78 rpm records have heard of Zaki Murad and his daughter Layla Murad. Few people know that Layla’s uncles and Zaki’s brothers were also musicians who recorded in the United States – Nessim Murad and Mayer Murad. At Midwest Mahjar our collection contains dozens of 78s by Zaki and/or Layla Murad, but for years we were perplexed by the existence of Maloof Phonograph Records by Nessim and Mayer.  Mayer Murad’s career was known to us because of our familiarity with Dick Spottswood’s Ethnic Music on Record listing of Ma...