Arabic Beat cd cover[/caption]
[inset_left]Arabic Beat
Released July 2012
Putumayo World Music[/inset_left]
Putumayo World Music, established in 1993 is known for its collection of diverse world music, thematically and geographically organized. Its selections are often surprising and eclectic, bringing together unexpected musicians from various countries and cultures and introducing listeners to lesser known musicians and genres from the zydeco music of the Deep South in the United States to music by South African female singers. It features an extensive collection of music from the Americas, Africa, and Asia.
Putumayo has three albums featuring music from the Middle East: Arabic Beat, Arabic Groove, and Acoustic Arabia. Watcha Clan’s beguiling ‘Osfour’ stands out within this collection as a more traditional folk song. For those inclined towards more meditative and mellow music The Acoustic Arabic compilation offers a particularly rich sampling of music including Maurice El Medioni, a Jewish pianist from Algeria and the band Tiris from Western Sahara.
The musicians and bands themselves are diverse in composition, with Watcha Clan having both Arab and non Arab musicians and of mixed cultural and religious background. This, in part, inspires the bold fusions their music embraces.
While Watcha Clan is best known in France and in Europe, an American commentator, Bob Boilen, from America’s well respected and popular National Public Radio reacted with wonder and delight at the way they succeed at synthesizing very different genres, traditions, and languages. “Watcha Clan is one of the most exciting bands I’ve seen on the world music circuit. They were controlled chaos in action – at times sounding Balkan, others Brooklyn, and then Egyptian. There were also Moroccan rhythms and Sufi trance mixed with the electronica.”
Watcha Clan’s openness to performing diverse music and reinterpreting it is particularly evident in their performance of the late Ofra Haza’s extremely successful ‘Imnin Alu’ which is a song, poem, and prayer. Originally a poem by the 17th century rabbi, Shalom Shabazi, it sings of faith, ‘the living God’ and the openness of the gates of the heavens to the prayers of common people. Haza, an Israeli singer of Yemenite origin had a large but quiet following in the Arab world. Most of her songs were in Hebrew but she often sang in Arabic, mixing Arabic and Hebrew lyrics with English as well.
Arabic Beat is the latest Middle Eastern oriented album, having just been released in July 2012. A particularly evocative song in the collection is Samira Saeid’s ‘Saab Alyia’ which strikes a different tone than the others, more mellow and plaintive and less driven by a catchy beat. Ahmed Soultan’s ‘Itim’ is less immediately familiar, seemingly influenced by hip-hop but clearly immersed in Arab rhythms.
This album also illustrates how the Arab diaspora contributes to Arabic music as many of the performers were raised in Europe or North America or studied there for many years and now call European and North American cities home. Nour, for example, is based in Barcelona, Spain while Algerian Djamel Laroussi trained and lives in Cologne, Germany. Syrian Zein Al-Jundi is based in Austin, Texas.
From these cities they continue to write and perform Arabic music, but often with a keen ear for synthesizing musical genres and hybridizing traditional Arab music with contemporary trends in jazz, pop, funk, and hip hop.
With a few exceptions, Arabic Beat’s music is primarily dance and popular music. But the music – while being energetic and ideal for celebration - also features serious lyrics that contemplate social issues, particularly in relation to the desire for freedom. Other performers in the compilation include Cheb Amar of Morocco and Ali Slimani and Choubene of Algeria.
Putamayo’s ‘Arabic Beat’ is an excellent introduction to Arab music for those who lack exposure to it. While many Arab listeners will be familiar with some of the songs, the collection is diverse enough to offer something new to most listeners. The overall quality of the songs and performers selected is high and makes for a compelling synthesis of traditional and modern, folk and popular.
