This week we have a true vintage piece, ‘Port Said: Music from the Middle East’ by Mohammed El-Bakkar was released via Audio Fidelity in 1957. It’s a classic of Middle Eastern music and features on the cover world-class Turkish belly dancer Nejla Ates (1932-1995), who’s renowned for her performances in ‘King Richard and the Crusaders’ (1954), ‘Son of Sinbad’ (1955), and ‘Fanny’ a Broadway musical.
The genre of music is traditional folk Arabic, of which this record is a beautiful example and it showcases the sound of a typical contemporary Middle Eastern ensemble composed by tambourines, drums, rattles, violin, cello, and quanun. The rhythm and structure are quite simple, with the first one being an alternation of repeated combinations of accented and unaccented beats and rests, and the second one being a call and response situation between the main vocals, sung by El-Bakkar charming voice, and a mixed choir, adding to the overall festive and uplifting vibe of the record, and Music from the Middle East.
As always, if this brief introduction has gotten you curious and you wanted to give it a listen there’s a link to the record in the bio. Until next Monday, stay safe and keep the good vibes coming!
