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. G.S. Maloof, of course, operated his own record shop but never appears to have been a musician. By selling shellac discs, he helped to preserve Arabic-language and expressive culture and is likely indirectly responsible for selling records to the Abdelahads, who in turn allowed their young son Tony to wind up the Victrola at family gatherings. In this post, we highlight the career of derbecki player Tony Tawa. 

 

American-born Antoun M. Tawa entered the world as the son of Frize Bargout Tawa and Michael Tawa on 28 February 1923 in Boston, Massachusetts. Michael Tawa immigrated to the United States from Greater Syria around 1902; Frize Bargout, her mother Eva, and her sister Ramza, came to Massachusetts about 1905 from Damascus.  Ramza married Assad Abdelahad on 25 November 1905 and Frize married Michael Tawa 6 October 1912. That Ramza and Frize were sisters made Anton Abdelahad and Tony Tawa first cousins. The Tawas eventually had six children Lillian, Fred, Jeanette, Antoun “Anthony”, Joseph, and Louise. That’s three boys and three girls. In 1930, Eva Bargout lived with her daughter Frize’s family.  


1912 Boston City Directory shows Tawa Bros. Ice Cream Cones. Courtesy of Ancestry.com

Since the 1910s, Boston’s Tawa Brothers (George, John, and Michael) made ice cream and ice cream cones. In 1912, the Boston City Directory listed their addresses as 82 and 105 Hudson Street – the heart of Boston’s Syriantown. Of course, the ice cream cone has a much contested and immensely illusive history beyond the scope of this post and blog; however, in two of the dozens of ice cream cone, cornucopia, penny-lick, and edible versus inedible containers, cups, and cones stories, at least two involve Syrians who claimed to have worked at the 1904 Saint Louis World’s Fair – Abe J. Doumar (1881-1946)  and Ernest A. Hamwi (1885-1943).  In one story, Abraham Joseph Doumar claims to have suggested the edible waffle cone as an act of improvisation and innovation to a waffle vendor when an ice cream seller at the 1904 fair ran out of paper cups. Within a year, Abe reportedly sold cones at Coney Island, up and down the East coast, in Virginia by 1907, created the four-iron cone maker, and the family continues to operate the business in Norfolk, Virginia, to this day. In the other scenario, Ernest Albert Hamwi improvised an edible waffle cone, coming to the rescue of a paper cupless ice cream vendor in Saint Louis. Hamwi’s story places Cornucopia Waffle Oven Company owner, J. P. Heckle, at the center of the story and Hamwi became one of his traveling salespeople before breaking away to establish the Missouri Cone Company at 804 South Fourth Street in Saint Louis in 1910. As an interesting aside, Hamwi’s cone creation story includes his conversion from Muslim to Christian, finding a Muslim wife in Damascus, and his betrothed’s immigration to the United States around 1928. The point? Whether created by an English cookbook author, warring Italian immigrant cousins, Frank and Italo Marchiony, two different immigrants from Damascus, or someone else, the fact that the Tawa brothers manufactured edible waffle ice cream cones by 1912 should come as no surprise. To be sure, journalist Robert Moss claims the Federal Appeals Court in Philadelphia essentially settled the almost decade-long patent dispute two years later. 


Story about Hamwi in the St. Louis Globe Democrat, 3 June 1928. Courtesy of Newspapers.com.


Tony and his siblings all attended school in Boston and the family ice cream cone business survived through the worst years of the Great Depression and World War II. From 8 February 1943 to 25 January 1946, Tony served in the United States Navy. Some 16,000 Arab Americans served in the US Military during World War II. To signal their patriotism, businesses like Alamphon Records in Brooklyn, encouraged its customers to buy war bonds and support the troops. Musicians like former Maloof Phonograph Records’ singer Braheen Edward Abdo Urban and singers Jamili Matouk and Najeeba Morad all recorded songs like “God Bless America,” “Who Protects Freedom,” and “Long Live Uncle Sam.” After serving in the Navy, Tony Tawa returned to Boston and his parents’ home where he worked fulltime as a salesman for the family’s ice cream and ice cream cone company. 


Tony Tawa’s WWII Draft card. He went on tho serve in the US Navy. Courtesy of Ancestry.com


Meanwhile, Tony Tawa’s cousin, Anton “Tony” Abdelahad’s career took off in the 1940s. Abdelahad ran a record shop and created his own Abdelahad Record label. He hired Philip Solomon, Russell Bunai, and Ronnie Kirby. Soon, Tony Tawa would accompany his cousin Tony Abdelahad on occasional gigs. Like Ronnie Kirby, Tony Tawa played percussion but almost exclusively derbecki. Abdelahad became a staple of the rapidly growing hafla and mahrajan circuit. He was arguably Boston’s most famous Arabic-language musician from the 1940s and 1960s. 

 

On April 30, 1953, Tony Tawa married Lorraine David in Lucus, Ohio. Although born in Ludlow, Massachusetts, in 1925, Lorraine’s parents moved to Toledo, Ohio, by 1935, where her uncle Archimandrite Samuel David would soon be ordained and elevated to Archbishop. Although a priest, Samuel David was no stranger to singing or the music business. Metropolitan David released his own selection of Orthodox hymns as a two-album set. Tony and Lorraine had two sons, Gregory (b. 1955) and Steven (b.1956).  

 

Tony started playing more events by 1954 and 1955. On 21 October 1954, he accompanied Fadwa Abeid, Tony Abdelahad, Philip Solomon, Russell Bunai, and Joe Budway at the annual concert sponsored by Saint John of Damascus Orthodox Church. He and the family also spent time in Miami, Florida, where Tony sat in for several musical engagements. For instance, there was the sahra in Saint Petersburg, Florida, where Tawa joined Fadwa Abeid and Joe Budway at the Al-Kareem Club in February 1955. There was also a two-week stint of events, including picnic and haflas, when he and Joe Budway backed Hanan at social gatherings sponsored by the Syria-Lebanon American Club of Miami. A similar cluster of events matched Fadwa Abeid with Tony Tawa, Joe Budway, Fred Rahal, and Naif Agby. On at least one occasion, the quartet backed Naif Agby’s sister, Olga “Kahraman” Agby. June and July brought Tony Tawa back to Massachusetts where he resumed life on New England’s hafla and mahrajan circuit. One event hosted by Saint George’s Syrian Orthodox Church in Lowell, Massachusetts, booked oudist Djamal Aslan, Fred Elias, and Tony Tawa as the featured ensemble. Bishop Samuel David officiated morning mass for the June 26thevent. That summer, the Syrian Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese held its annual five-day program August 17-21, 1955. This, in fact, was last summer of 1955 gig Tony played on August 19, and it starred Najeeba Morad Karam, Russell Bunai, Tony Abdelahad, Philip Solomon, and Joe Budway at the Imperial Grand Ballroom. This same group performed at the N.G. Beram Veteran’s Association hafla 18 November 1955 and a group of over one thousand turned out to see these musicians at the Saint John of Damascus annual hafla. 


Eastern Federation ad, The Caravan. 25 September 1958. Newspapers.com


Also by 1955, Tony became a regular contributor to Brooklyn’s Caravan newspaper. He provided much of the news from Boston’s Syrian and Lebanese communities and became a constant source of the goings on of Anton Abdelahad’s band of which he was a routine traveling member. The column eventually took the name “Tony’s Travels.” 

 

Emil Kassis, Hanan, Naim Karacand, and Tony Tawa drew a capacity crowd to the New Year’s Eve Party that welcomed in 1956. According to reports, the party did not end until 5am New Year’s Day. In March, the 16thAnnual Northeast Region SOYO hired Odette Kaddo, Nasser Kaddo, Philip Solomon, and Tony Tawa as the entertainment. The following month the Kaddos accompanied by Fred Elias and Tony Tawa played for a packed house at the Waterbury, Connecticut, Benefit Mahrajan. Saint George Orthodox invited Hanan, Tony Abdelahad, Philip Solomon, and Tawa to perform at the annual banquet and concert in May. Of course, at the time, Tony Abdelahad dedicated a huge portion of his time to establishing a restaurant at 5288 Washington Street, in West Roxbury, Massachusetts. Perhaps the largest and most important booking of the year was the Eastern States Federation Conference at Copake Country Club in Craryville, New York June 1, 2, & 3. Tony Tawa, Tony Abdelahad, and Philip Solomon headlined this weekend-long event. The Virgin Mary Society of Saint John of Damascus Church secured Tony Tawa and Philip Solomon with Tony Abdelahad on July 15, 1956. With Ramza Abdelahad organizing the event, it seemed virtually inevitable her son and nephew would help by proving the entertainment. Then nearly a month later, when Odette Kaddo and Mohammed El-Bakkar appeared at Arbiter-Liedertazzel Park Mahrajan in East Hartford, Connecticut, Philip Solomon, Nasser Kaddo, and Tony Tawa backed the two better-known musicians. 


SOYO ad, The Caravan, May 9, 1957. Newspapers.com

There is little personal information in the public record, but things were not going well for the young family. After a few years of marriage, Tony and Lorraine divorced. We don’t have the exact date the courts made the separation and divorce final, but some sources show Tawa’s performances deceased significantly in 1958 and 1959. For example, Tawa along with Mohamed El-Bakkar and Philip Solomon packed the Our Lady of Annunciation hafla 26 January 1958 with 500 attendees. Tawa’s next performance that year appears to have been at the Eastern States Federation annual convention across state in Springfield, Massachusetts. Special guest artists who joined Tawa that night – Wadi El-Safi, Hanan, Joe Budway, and Philip Solomon. In less than a month, Tony remarried to Westin Teebagy Paglia in October 1958. Both bride and groom were recently divorced and Westin’s mother, Margaret Bunai Teebagy, was Russell Bunai’s sister. Similar to 1958, only two gigs showed up on Tawa’s public scheduled in 1959: A March 15 gig at Saint George’s Orthodox featuring Tony Abdelahad, Kahraman, and Philip Solomon, followed by a 9 May booking with John Nazarian also sponsored by Saint George’s. 


Tony Tawa's column and an Eastern Federation ad where he played in the Caravan, April 26, 1956. Newspapers.com

The sonic history of Boston’s Syriantown may have best been captured by a May 1960 article in the Caravan newspaper. On May 1, 1960, Najeeba Morad, Tony Abdelahad, Fred Elias, and Tony Tawa played the Our Lady of the Annunciation Church Society hafla. The same night, the Dave Lawrence Orchestra and the Arabian Nights entertained at a Brookline ALSAC sahra at Saint John Damscus New Church Hall. A week before this, on 24 April, Rev. Archmandrite Ilyas Kurban sang and directed the Saint George Syrian Orthodox Church Choir for high mass following a celebration of the feast of Saint George. Finally, the Saint Maron Society of Our Lady of the Cedar Church held a sahra with Little Sami and Nicky Nash as the featured entertainment acts. This also took on 24 April 1960. Similarly, hafla and mahrajan abound in throughout New England and the mid-Atlantic states in the weeks following July 4, 1960. In a three-day period, July 12 to 16, the Eastern Region SOYO in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, sponsored a blowout event with Sana & Amer Kadaj, Joe Budway, and Naim Karacand. At the same time, Kahraman, and Mike Hamway, along with Joe Budway and Naim Karacand appeared at the Cedars Hotel in Asbury Park, New Jersey. The Franklin, Massachusetts, Camp Haaistan festivities booked Tony Abdelahad, Philip Solomon, and Tony Tawa for its larger event hosted by Saint John of Damascus Orthodox Church. 

 

Around 1966 or 1967, Tony Tawa and his Near Eastern Caravan recorded at least two sides on the Georgette Records label – “Arapina” and “Kamanga Dubki”. Violinist and singer Fred Elias composed, arranged, and conducted the group on both songs. George “The Greek Elvis” Manis supplied vocals and played guitar on “Arapina.” Sources suggest the Greek song translating to “Little Arab Girl” was first recorded by Greek immigrant and Greek American performers in the 1932. We don’t know with certainty who was a part of the Near Eastern Caravan ensemble. 



Tony Tawa and His Near East Caravan - Arapina https://youtu.be/3btOWlIyITk
Tony Tawa and HIs Near East Caravan - Kamanga Dubki  https://youtu.be/qMSxjRXE0Ak

As he aged, Tony pursued other interests within and outside the entertainment industry. He bowled regularly and by 1964 he opened the Tony Tawa Theatrical Agency in West Roxbury. Tony served as a booking agent for all sorts of musicians, dancers, singers, comedians, variety show acts, actors, and a slew of others in show business. Ads in theBoston Globe show Tony scouting new artists throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Tony Abdelahad and Ronnie Kirby remained more active and continue to play the occasional hafla.  

 

Sadly, Tony Tawa died unexpectedly on 11 June 1996 in Dania, Florida. He passed less that six months after his cousin Tony Abdelahad. At the time, surviving Tawa were his ex-wives, his children Gregory, Steven, and Shelley, several siblings, and three grandchildren. Appropriately, Saint John of Damascus Orthodox Church held Tawa’s services. It was at Saint John that Tawa played many concerts , hafla, and sang in the men’s choir for years. 


    Special thanks to Art Abdelahad.


Richard M. Breaux


©️Midwest Mahjar



Location: La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA La Crosse, WI, USA

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