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

  On Radio & Record: The Pioneering Piano Music of Elizabeth Awad Elizabeth Awad, 1925. 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 a...

Abe Messadi and the Arabic Recording Corporation Record Label Abraham "Abe" Messadi, c. 1934. Photograph courtesy of Wayne M.   Most of our posts have focused on popular Arab American musicians or well-known Arab American record labels. On occasion we’ve highlighted the stories of little-known or less popular musicians on popular labels or well-known musicians on less-common labels. In this case, we’re featuring a far less-common label and far less-discussed musician. The Arabic Recording Company, Inc. was a little-known 1940s record label which, according to one newspaper advertisement, operated out of its 107 Lorimer Street address in Brooklyn, New York. Its parent company was the New York Record Corporation, an obscure start-up record business that operated from 1946-1952 from the fourth floor of the same address. The New York Record Corp ran a few want ads for a “press operator” and a “packing and shipping clerk” in the Brooklyn Eagle in 1946, but more imp...