Mohammed El-Akkad: King of the Kanun

 

Mohammed El-Akkad: 

King of the Kanun

Press photo of Mohammed El-Akkad from May 9, 1985 performance at Northeastern University. Courtesy of Richard M. Breaux collection.

Without question Nadha musicians influenced the first generation of Arab American musicians to record in the United States, but few early or middle period musicians can claim to be a direct descendent of a Nadha musician. Mohammed Yousri Moustafa El-Akkad became one of few mahjari musicians who could lay claim this lineage. His grandfather was the Egyptian kanun player Mohamed Eff. Al-Aqqad (1850-1931) and he was born November 27, 1911 in Egypt. The music of the elder Al-Aqqad had been captured on Baidaphon recordings and he taught his grandson to play the kanun. The elder Al-Aqqad played alongside Yusef al-Manyalawi, Abdul Hay Hilmy, Salama Higazi, and other well-known musicians. According to Raphael Cormak, Sami al-Shawa, Mohammed al-Qasabji, and the elder Mohammed el-Aqqad were part of a group that backed Oum Kalthoum. Also for a time, there was the El-Aqqad Quartet which consisted of Mustapha [Mohammed's father] on riq, Ishmail [Mohammed's brother] on violin, Mohamed El-Akkad on kanun, and an oduist. The elder El-Aqqad also was influential in the establishment of the Arab Music Institute in 1929 and, as a few sources suggest, became its first president.

According to some accounts, when Egypt’s King Fuad convened the First Congress of Arab Music in 1932, the mantle of “King of the Kanun” passed to Al-Aqqad’s namesake and grandson. Historians of Arab music cite the First Congress of Arab Music as one of the earliest formal symposiums at which musicians of Arab descent performed, researched, discussed and documented past, present, and future Arab musical forms from the mashriq and maghreb. Scholars and musicians attended from Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Iraq, Syria, and, of course, Egypt. Still others attended from Turkey and as far away as England, Germany, Austria, and Hungary. Although difficult to confirm,  Mohammed El-Akkad performed at the crowning of King Ghazi bin Faisal of Iraq on 8 September 1933. He began to emerge out of the shadows of his grandfather when he met Cario-born, Jew - Masouad Halwani in 1939. Souad Halwani, who went by the stage name Souad Zaki, was born in 1915 to a middle-class Syrian father and North African mother. Her father was employed as a judge and her mother raised Souad and her six siblings. Souad’s musical career developed, in part, out of necessity as a way to earn money to supplement her father’s income when his health deteriorated. With the patronage of her wealthy uncle, she studied music at a conservatory in Cairo in her 20s and from there, launched her radio career. It was around this time that she married Mohammed El-Akkad.

Photo of the Akkad Quartet Mohammed El-Akkad (Kanun), his father Moustafa El-Akkad (Tambourine), his brother Ismail El-Akkad (Violin), and non-relative on Oud. Courtesy of Iris Zaki.

Today, some people make a big deal out of the fact that Souad Zaki, a Jew, and Mohammed El-Akkad, a Muslim, married each other, but theirs was a marriage deeply rooted in the mutual respect of each other’s faith and love of music. When she recorded, he was often a part of the accompanying orchestra and by the early 1940s, Souad’s career pivoted from radio to the big screen. In 1942, Souad appeared in the movies "Bahbah in Baghdad" and "On the Stage of Life." Three years later, she starred in the film "Salamah."

Souad Zaki in studio. Courtesy of Moshe Zaki.

Somewhere along the way, likely doing radio work for the Voices of America from 1942 to 1945, Mohammed and Souad met singers Amer and Sana Kadaj; they decided to tour mahjari communities in the United States as means of scoping out places to potentially immigrate. On 14 October 1947, Sana and Amer Kadaj, Fadel El Shawa (brother of violin virtuoso Sami El Shawa), and Mohammed El-Akkad reached New York onboard the S.S. Saturnia.  Their intention was to stay in the United States for six months; besides El-Akkad left behind Souad and their three-year-old son, Moshe. During this time, however, the United Nation’s General Assembly resolved to adopt a plan calling for the partition of Palestine, ultimately resulting in war.

October 14, 1947 ships passenger list included Amer & Sana Kadaj (spelled Khadage), Mohammed El Akkad (spelled Akad), and Fadel Shawa. Courtesy of Ancestry.com

Not long after their arrival in the United States, Sana and Amer Kadaj began recording for Farid al-Adin’s Alamphon Records in Brooklyn. Among those who joined Sana, Amer, or the two as a vocal duo on tour and in the studio were oudist Jalil Azzouz, who himself had come to the United States in 1947, and Mohammed El-Akkad, when songs required a kanun player. 

Some of Mohammed El-Akkad’s first recordings in the United States were with Russell Bunai on Bunai’s Star of the East label. According to Anne Rasmussen's The Music of Arab America, El-Akkad played kanun on Star of the East #1019/1020 “Hal Tadree/Do You Know” and #1013/1014 “Li’B Al-Khayl/ Playing the Horses.”

Although a photo of Russell Bunai's "Playing the Horses," on the Star of the East label, Mohammed El-Akkad played kanun on this side. Courtesy of Richard M. Breaux collection.

https://soundcloud.com/profbro/russell-bunai-cr-1013-1014-fighting-the-horses-star-of-the-east

Communication with Souad back home obviously became increasingly difficult for Mohammed, but given political changes in Egypt after World War II, this might have been expected. Less explainable is that nearly fourteen months after his arrival in New York, Mohammed El-Akkad married Catherine Deeb on 1 December 1948.  We have no way of knowing how El-Akkad would have explained this to Sana and Amer Kadaj, who knew he had a wife back in Egypt. We don’t even know that they knew of this union. Even more strangely, Mohammed El-Akkad and Catherine Deeb have a second marriage date of 29 November 1949. Both ceremonies reportedly took place in Connecticut. 

Russell Bunai's "Hal Tadree," on the Star of the East label, Mohammed El-Akkad played kanun on this side also. Courtesy of Richard M. Breaux collection. https://youtu.be/9hqOMRaVCSc

Souad Zaki received word of her husband’s relationship with and marriage to another woman and she demanded a divorce. According to family history, Zaki also planned her move to Israel with her son by telling Egyptian authorities she was going on tour in Europe. She first travelled to Switzerland, then Italy, and finally Israel, where she worked in radio, but was also forced to find work as a cleaning lady. Souad slaved cleaning by day to pay for her son’s education, but until 1972 she also sang on Israel’s Arab Orchestra on the direction of Zuzu Mousa.

We’ve located only a few newspaper stories that mention El-Akkad before 1952, by which time, he reportedly then left for France and vanished from the US music scene and press for eight years.  In 1949, El-Akkad joined Najeeba Morad, Naim Karacand, Fathllad Abyad, and Mike Hamway at the Knights of Saint George of Saint Ann’s Melkite Church mahrajan in New Jersey. Two years later, in May, 1951, El-Akkad performed with Amer and Sana Kadaj at the Lebanon-American Society of Lakawanna County’s annual hafla in Pennsylvania near Scranton. In a month’s time, the Knights of Saint George asked Najeeba Morad, Naim Karacand, and Mohammed El-Akkad back to their annual mahrajan and the event was a complete success. Then in October, 1951, Mohammed El-Akkad boarded the S.S. Elizabeth bound for Cherbourg, France, and disappeared for nearly eight years. 

Available records don’t tell us where El-Akkad lived from 1951 until 1959 – it could have been the United States, France, Egypt, Palestine or Israel. Did he communicate with Catherine or Souad during this time? We just don’t know. One source suggests he played at the wedding of the Shah of Iran and Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiary on 12 February 1951, but we have no record of El-Akkad leaving the United States until October, 1951. The same source places El-Akkad at the marriage of Jordan's King Hussein to Sharifa Dina bint Abdul-Hamid 19 April 1955. According to Moshe Zaki, El-Akkad was deported when Saoud filed abandonment charges against him with the US Embassy in Cairo. For the next six years he managed a public broadcasting station in Syria. A poster for the Saint Nicholas Young Men’s Association, however, noted that their annual event on 3 October 1959 would star Fadwa Abeid, Tony Abdelahad, Naim Karacand, Philip Solomon, Jack Ghanaim, Eddie Kochak and dancers The Jamal Twins and Dahlana. It specifically points out “And presenting for the first time in Brooklyn in 8 years Professor Mohammad Akkad – Canoon.” The advertisement mentioned nothing about where Akkad had been. The rumor mill hints at Toledo or Detroit as possible temporary homes for Mohammed and Catherine. Yet, El-Akkad's career shifted into high gear after this performance.

Poster noting Mohammed El Akkad's return to Brooklyn, Caravan, September 17, 1959. Courtesy of Newspapers.com

 

When the October 1, 1959 Caravan announced the coming of Odette Kaddo’s “Cedars of Lebanon” LP, Mohammed El-Akkad, Jack Ghanaim, Philip Solomon, Hakki Obadia, Mike Hamway, Sam Shaheen, Francis Saad, Sam Fakhre, and Sarkis Bassim appear as Kaddo’s ensemble. The lineup also included chorus members Gloria Kaouk, Virginia Khoury, and Lila Shattahy. Early 1960 saw El-Akkad, Naim Karacand, Mike Hamway, and the Zamalkany Trio back Kahraman at the Brooklyn YWCA 16 January 1960. Remarkably, El-Akkad then played in Detroit on January 24 for Saint Mary Men’s Society, for Brooklyn’s Aleppian Foundation, Inc. on February 6, and at Saint Ann’s Rosary Sodality February 13 in New Jersey.  Next, he performed on Lila Stephan’s LP “Lila-A Thousand and One Nights” also in 1960. El-Akkad followed up this recording session with several hafla appearances at Saint George Church in Flint on May 15, at Saint George’s Orthodox in Paterson, New Jersey on June 26 and as a co-headliner with Fadwa Abeid and Naif Agby at the SOYO Convention held in Grand Rapids, Michigan, July 2 and 3. The Autumn brought additional shows at Saint Nicholas Cathedral October 15 and Saint Paul Greek Orthodox Church in Hempstead, New York.

Much of Mohammed El-Akkad’s schedule in the 1960s were filled with charity hafla and mahrajan and with major barriers to immigration and naturalization scaled back in 1965, he become a naturalized citizen.  Whether this meant collaborations with Naim Karacand, Mike and George Hamway at Sacred Heart Church in Paterson on January 28, 1961, a concert for the Homsian Fraternity in May, 1962, a charity ball-hafli sponsored by the United New Jersey Organization for Arab Relief jamming with Kahraman, George Hamway and Henry and George Raad, in June, 1968, opportunities to play regularly remained plentiful. In the middle of it all, El-Akkad joined an ensemble that backed jazz flutist Herbie Mann on his 1967 album "Impressions of the Middle East." El-Akkad took a break from his music on 29 January 1968 to take his oath becoming a naturalized citizen. He also encouraged a young musician named Youssef Kassab to immigrate to the United States.

Mohammed El-Akkad becomes a US citizen in 1969. Courtesy of Ancestry.com

The 1970s brought on a steady pace of live and recorded music engagements that kept El-Akkad busily traveling between New York and New Jersey – mahrajans were, of course, at their peak. In 1970, Tony Abdelahad, Ron Kirby, and Mohammed El-Akkad played their usual gig at Saint Ann Melkite Church in West Paterson. The same trio packed the Empress Motel in Asbury Park on 18 July later that year. A mahrajan and Middle Eastern festival in July, 1972, at Camp Veritans in Heldon, New Jersey, drew over 2000 Syrian, Lebanese, Egyptian, and Armenian Americans as the trio of El-Akkad, Kirby, and Abdelahad headlined at this event. That fall at SUNY-Binghamton, El-Akkad gave a concert for a joint meeting of the Middle Eastern Studies Association and the American Association of Teachers of Arabic. Some 450 to 500 academics from across the United States, Canada, and Middle East attended. Saint George’s Orthodox Church of South Glens Falls, New York, hired a different trio of El-Akkad, Armond, and Moe Nasr to entertain the crowd at it 21^st annual hafli on 8 June 1974. Also in 1974, El-Akkad collaborated with an enormous ensemble to record Gus Vali’s LP “Chimera.” The following year, he joined Eddie Kochak as the kanunist on the “Strictly Belly Dancing, Volume 2,” LP and he backed Kochak, Hakki Obadia, and Joseph Kassab on “Strickly Belly Dancing, the Second Volume” in 1977. Hafla and mahrajan hosted by Saint Ann’s Melkite Church in West Paterson, Saint George’s Syrian Orthodox Church in Paterson, Sacred Heart Armenian in Paterson brought El-Akkad back almost every year along with Tony Abdelahad or George Mgrdichian. In fact, he and George Mgraichian recorded together on “Areej,” an LP on the Hamreem label in 1977. Mohammed El-Akkad closed out the decade with an Arabic Music: Past and Present concert at the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park in July, 1979. A young scholar and musician named Dr. A.J. Racy accompanied El-Akkad that evening.

Newsclipping, July 13, 1979, San Francisco Examiner. Courtesy of Newspapers.com

El-Akkad’s musical career persisted into the 1980s with guest appearances at university music festivals and museum concerts. The Walter’s Art Museum in Baltimore received a National Endowment for the Humanities to host six-month Asian music festival with one performance per month. Not quite 70, Mohammed El-Akkad closed out the series “Explorations in the Walters” with a May 11, 1980 performance. Previous months provided opportunities to hear music from Bali, a koto player from Japan, and a Javanese percussion gamelan. In the case of El-Akkad’s concert, attendees received an invitation to view the museum’s collection of Islamic art. In the Fall of 1980, Mohammed El-Akkad and Tony Abdelahad returned to Saint Ann’s Melkite Church for the annual halfa near Paterson, New Jersey. Saint Ann’s had been one of the first places El-Akkad had ever played in the United States and it was notably one of the last. El-Akkad teamed up again with Professor A.J. Racy in May, 1984. This time, the two were joined by Hanna Mirhije and Hikmet, Simon, and Najeeb Shaheen at the New York’s Alternative Museum. Finally, in 1985, Northeastern University invited El-Akkad, Simon Shaheen, and Ronnie Kirby to showcase selections of classical and popular Arab music.

Mohammed El-Akkad also released an LP "El Salaam," on his own label. Courtesy of of Richard M. Breaux collection.

"2 Samai Farah Faza 6802," https://youtu.be/SL4mJofZqYk

In his personal life, Mohammed’s wife Catherine El-Akkad died in April,1982, at the age of 80. Interestingly, within months, El-Akkad remarried his first wife, the retired singer and actress Souad Zaki. Even more perplexing is the two marriage dates and licenses for his marriage to Souad, 1982 (#10311) and 1983 (#11849) in Brooklyn. The reunited couple lived in Brooklyn for approximately seven years, then after Mohammed was robbed of his kanun on a New York subway, they moved to Israel. 

Mohammed and Souad remarried in Brooklyn in the 1980s before moving to Israel. Courtesy of Moshe Zaki.

Mohammed El-Akkad last recorded a duet with Hassem Elgharbi called "Quanoun Enchante: Solos De Cithare," in 1991 in France. He died in January, 1993, and Souad Zaki lived another eleven years. They were both buried in Haifa, but in separate cemeteries. El-Akkad rests in a Muslim cemetery and Zaki in a Jewish cemetery. Their only son, Moshe, became a professor/psychologist and their grandchildren, Uri Zaki and Iris Zaki, are a political consultant/advisor and a filmmaker respectively. Iris Zaki is currently finishing a film about her grandmother and grandfather called "Egypt, A Love Song." It is a must see when released.

Special Thanks to Moshe Zaki, Iris Zaki, and Uri Zaki.

Richard M. Breaux

© Midwest Mahjar