On Radio & Record: The Pioneering Piano Music of Elizabeth Awad

 

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 Arab immigrant and Arab American musicians on the airwaves. One of the earliest Arab American musicians to have a program air on the radio was, of course, Victor Talking Machine artist, pianist, composer, and Maloof Phonograph Company owner, Alexander Maloof. In March 1924, Maloof, as a soloist, and later with his orchestra, appeared on WBBR’s Sunday evening broadcast. Station WEAF aired Maloof’s Oriental Radio Hour a year later. Close to the same time of Maloof’s first show on WBBR, another show on WBBR featured Elizabeth Awad, Nicholas Karshoum, and Toufic Moubaid.

Oudist Toufic Gabriel Moubaid was born on 5 July 1887 or 5 August 1888 in Tripoli, Lebanon (then Greater Syria). He arrived at the age of  10 onboard the vessel Chicago via Ellis Island. Toufic married Freida Maloof and the couple had Jeannie in 1913 and Mary in 1916. Working as an elevator operator first at 63, then 81-85 Washington Street, at the D.J. Faour Brothers, Co. Bankers & Merchants, Toufic was able to rent a place at 89 Pacific Street across the East River in Brooklyn. The Daniel J. Faour Brothers Co., Toufic’s employer, opened his business in 1891 and operated as an importer/exporter of dry goods, cutlery, notions, jewelry, and other items in the heart of Manhattan’s Little Syria.

The Phonograph Monthly Review, March 1929, p. 214.

Toufic Moubaid, WBBR promotional photo. 1927 Citizen's Radio Call Book.

The invention of radio and its use as an instrument to broadcast live music over the airwaves changed the lives of Arab American musicians like Alexander Maloof and Toufic Moubaid. Both men played early parts in the Arabic-language record industry in the United States. Maloof, of course, pioneered it all with his piano solos “A Trip to Syria” and “Aljazayer” on Victor. Moubaid likely played the oud as an ensemble member on several early Columbia records. In 1924, WBBR featured Toufic Moubaid, Nicholas Karshoum, and Elizabeth Awad as bookend performers during their 8pm Wednesday slot.  

How Awad learned to play piano remains unclear. Elizabeth Awad was born 22 February 1906. Immigration documents suggest she was born in Mersine, Turkey, to Nour Awad who travelled to the United States, after a stop in Naples, with her five children on board the S.S. Liguria in 1908. Nour’s youngest child, and Elizabeth’s only brother was born in Beirut. The Awad’s first rented at 325 Henry Street in the heart of Brooklyn’s Little Syria II, just steps from Atlantic Avenue. Next they moved to 139 Amity Street where Elizabeth’s newly married sister and brother-in-law, Adele and Nicholas G. Karshoum resided. Elizabeth attended P.S. 78 located at 174 Pacific Street in Brooklyn, New York and graduated in 1920. She undoubtedly heard composer, pianist, and record label owner Alexander Maloof when she was a youngster. Maloof became the first Arab American to compose and record piano solos for the Victor Talking Machine Company. Elizabeth likely learned to play piano in school. Within four years of graduation, Elizabeth Awad made her radio debut accompanying Toufic Moubaid, and her brother-in-law, Nicolas Karshoum (1884-1955).

Listing for WBBR Radio program featuting Toufic Moubaid and Elizabeth Awad. Courtesy of Newspapers.com

Beyond school, Awad and her family attended Saint Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral where Elizabeth helped coordinate the entertainment for events held by the daughters of Saint Nicholas and the Saint Nicholas Men’s Club. Nearly every week from 1923 until 1926, at least Moubaid and Awad (and sometimes Karshoum) appeared on a WBBR broadcast from Staten Island, and could be heard as far north as New Brunswick, Toronto, and as far south as Dothan, Alabama. Like Toufic Moubaid, Nicholas Karshoum was born in Tripoli, Lebanon. When not playing alongside Moubaid and Awad, he worked in various capacities in the shoe industry, as a repairman, shipping clerk, and, later in life, as a handyman.  Elizabeth’s and Toufic’s names appeared in newspapers, trade magazines related to radio and phonograph records, and the American English and Arab American press. For one radio concert in 1929, Moubaid and Awad played along with Columbia and Victor star Moses Cohen. Another radio broadcast featured Elizabeth Awad with Fathallah Abyad on oud, Mosa Kalooky on kanun, and Petro Trabulsy on violin.

Elizabeth Awad in concert with Fathallah Abyad, Mosa Kalooky, and Petro Trabulsy. 18 January 1929, Mira' at Al-Gharb, Volume 30, Issue 401, Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies. North Carolina State University. 

Radio notoriety, press attention, and growing professional connections found Elizabeth Awad and Toufic Moubaid at Manhattan’s Columbia Record Studios. Together, Toufic with Elizabeth on piano recorded 50002X-“Bachraf Moubaid,” 50007X- “Tahmely Hedjab,” “Bachraf Bader,” and 50009X “Daka Wa Nisef,” “Kedivial March.” Moubaid and Awad cut these during two sessions in May 1928 and December 1928. We have never seen, nor heard any copies of these 12” Columbia discs. No private collectors we asked had ever seen copies. We cannot locate documentation of the physical discs in Harvard University Loeb Library’s Arabic 78 Collection, University of California Santa Barbara’s 78 collection, the National Arab American Museum’s 78 collection, AMAR Foundation for Arab Music Archiving & Research, or the Moise A. Khayrallah Center’s 78 collection. 

1930 Columbia Records ad and catalogue listing Awad and Moubaid collaborations. Courtesy of Harout Arakelian. 

The Moise A. Khayrallah Center of Lebanese Diaspora has a wav. file copy of Toufic Moubaid's Columbia Records recording with Nahim Simon and violinist Sam Romey (1906-1985), courtesy of the Special Collection Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The sides on Columbia 50000-X and 50001-x were recorded 14 December 1928.

Immigration restrictions, passed in the form of the 1924 Johnson-Reed Act, slowed the influx of people coming from the mandated territories and likely negatively influenced sales of the Arabic-language inventory put out by the big two - Victor and Columbia, adding to a larger rollback on their Arabic language content that witnessed a decline since 1919. Fortunately, audiences and consumers could turn to A.J. Macksoud’s Phonograph Company and Maloof Phonograph Company to fill the gap. Macksoud’s shop operated at 77 Washington Street and Maloof’s at 32 Rector Street on the Lower Westside.

Like many women of her generation, Zeki Agob and Lateefy Abdou included, the combination of the Great Depression, declines in record sales, and marriage ended Elizabeth Awad’s public music career. As we’ve noted in other posts, the proliferation of the very industry that employed  Awad and Moubaid, radio took an enormous bite out of the 78 rpm record business. To be sure, record company sales plunged from one hundred million in 1925 to six million by 1932. The Victor Talking Machine Company temporarily froze record production and diverted its resources towards radio programming and radio production. By 1935, Elizabeth met and married Thomas B. Nader. The two wed 10 August 1935. Thomas Nader was born around 1898 in Syria and worked as an insurance salesman at the time he married Elizabeth.  The couple lived in Washington, DC, where their sons Donald and George were born in 1937 and 1940. Sadly, Thomas died on 14 May 1942. Elizabeth and Thomas’ family had the services at Saint George’s Syrian Orthodox Church. By 1950, Elizabeth and her two sons lived with her sister Adele Karshoum, brother-in-law Nicholas Karshoum, and brother Anthony at 669 Ovington Avenue in Brooklyn. To support herself and the boys, Elizabeth labored as a factory manager. Two years later, Congress altered the Naturalization laws, broadening US immigration and naturalization policy to be more inclusive.

Brooklyn Daily, 03 December 1924. Courtesy of Newspapers.com

Interestingly, Elizabeth Awad never learned to read music, nor did she ever own a piano. One of her son’s remembers she played by ear but could sit down at a piano and pick up any tune. Although Alexander Maloof had tutored numerous young women in his life, that we know, Elizabeth Awad was not one of them. This makes Elizabeth’s short-lived radio and recording career all the more remarkable.

Elizabeth’s old radio partners, Nicholas Karshoum and Toufic Moubaid lived fairly quiet lives as they aged but only Moubaid maintained public ties to the music industry. Karshoum died 12 August 1955. One of the officiants at his funeral at Saint Nicholas Cathedral was Archdeacon Illyas T. Kurban. Moubaid worked at Harvester Laundry, remarried in 1954, performed in one of his son-in-law’s (Abe Messadi) ensembles, and died in March 1967. Meanwhile, Elizabeth’s son Donald served in the United States Air Force where he was a radar inspector in Alaska, Colorado, and Missouri, before returning to Brooklyn. After Nicholas Karshoum’s passing, Elizabeth’s sister and brother bought a house at 1223 77th Street and Elizabeth and her son’s bought a place at 7734 11th Avenue. They were less than one quarter of a mile from each other.

Consistent with the careers of other women we’ve featured on Midwest Mahjar, including Ramza Abdelahad, Matilda Dada Stephens, and Margaret Kazen, Elizabeth worked as a dressmaker. Initially, Elizabeth worked in the garment district but later in life she bought out her employer and made and altered dresses for a living. 

Elizabeth Awad Nader died in December 1984. She was seventy-eights years old and survived by her sons George and Donald, her daughters-in-law, and her grandchildren. Surviving photographs of Elizabeth show her in her 70s spending time with relatives. Evidence of her previous career disappeared from her life’s belongings years ago. 

Elizabeth Awad Nader flanked by two of her granddaughters. Courtesy of Diane G. & Donald N. 

Special Thank You to Donald N., Diane G., Akram F. Khater, and Harout Arakelian.

Richard M. Breaux

© Midwest Mahjar