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

  Nourhane:   A Forgotten Singer, Rediscovered by Her Granddaughter   Photo property of May Kassem. Not every singer or musician we’ve featured at Midwest Mahjar immigrated to the United States from Greater Syria or the countries that had once been a part of Bilad al-Sham. Some, in fact, may have never come to the United States at all. Because a host of Alamphon , Arabphon , and Alkawakeb singles had previous lives on Baidaphon or other labels pressed for the Mashriq, these same musicians developed a fan base of listeners who settled in the US, but travelled quite frequently between the Mashriq and the United States. Recording artists like Um Kulthum, Fairuz, Asmahan, Nour Al Hoda, Farid Al-Atrash, and Mohamed Abdel Wahab moved voluminous numbers of 78 rpm records in the United States. One Alamphon 78 rpm that puzzled us for considerable time is Alamphon #A3134 1-2 “Yahwaidalak” by a Nourhane. Most attempts to locate Nourhane only led us to the contemporary singer who us...