A couple of years ago in April, I stayed in the city of Cairo for a short holiday. During an afternoon spent searching for records, after visiting various record stores, I found myself combing the goods for sale at Sawt el Qahira, the shop of the very famous Egyptian company. Unfortunately vinyl records can not be found anymore, the large stock has now been completely looted, but (in addition to various CDs) there is a good number of tapes. There are many interesting things, among these I found an album belonging to an almost forgotten time of an author who really deserves to be remembered. The artist in question is Abdel Hamid Masha'l and the album to which I refer is "Musiqa sharqiyya", a beautiful example of oriental music for the belly dance, powerful and evocative .
Abdel Hamid Masha'l was an Egyptian composer born in Cairo in 1926. He started playing the flute at the age of fifteen under the guidance of Professor Ahmed Daddah. After a course of intensive study at the Union Music Institute in Cairo dedicated to learning the Maqam and the rhythmic variations of Arab music, he started working as a musician along with various musical groups. In time, his musical compositions and his melodies performed with Ney (the Arab flute) were broadcast by all Arab radios. He has performed in various concerts both in the Arab world and in Europe and has settled for a time in Libya to work and study. On his return home, he published in 1967 a manual for the study of ney according to a scientific method that elevated the theoretical approach to learning Arabic flute.
Unfortunately, the information on this great musician is scarce and just as scarce are the sound sources available. I propose here the tape fortunately found in Cairo and some songs put kindly available by users of the Sama3y forum.
N.B.
If you are in Cairo and want to rummage between CDs and Tapes, the Sawt el Qahira Store is located at al Borsa el Gadida, a side street of Qasr el Nil. Coming from Tahrir Square, past Midan Talaat Harb, once you take Qasr El Nil , Al Borsa El Gadida is the third street on the left. The shop is further on the right
Un paio di anni or sono, nel mese di Aprile, ho soggiornato nella città del Cairo per una breve vacanza primaverile. Nel corso di un pomeriggio dedicato alla ricerca di dischi, dopo aver visitato vari record stores , mi sono ritrovato a spulciare la merce in vendita presso Sawt el Qahira , il negozio della famosissima compagnia egiziana . Purtroppo di dischi in vinile non vi è traccia , l’ampia scorta di magazzino è stata ormai completamente saccheggiata, ma (oltre a vari Cd ) è presente un buon numero di cassette. Molte sono le cose interessanti, tra queste ho scovato un album appartenente a un tempo quasi dimenticato, di un autore che meriterebbe davvero di essere ricordato. Il personaggio in questione è Abdel Hamid Masha'l e l’album al quale mi riferisco è “ Musiqa sharqiyya”, un bellissimo esempio di musica orientale per la danza del ventre, potente ed evocativa.
Abdel Hamid Masha'l è stato un compositore egiziano nato al Cairo nel 1926 . Ha iniziato a suonare il flauto al’età di quindici anni sotto la guida del professor Ahmed Daddah. Dopo un corso di studi intensivo presso l’ Union Music Institute del Cairo dedicato all’apprendimento dei Maqam e delle variazioni ritmiche della musica araba , ha iniziato ha lavorare come musicista insieme a vari gruppi musicali . Con il tempo le sue composizioni musicali e le sue melodie eseguite con il Ney ( il flauto arabo) sono state trasmesse da tutte le radio arabe. Si è esibito in svariati concerti sia nel mondo arabo che in Europa e si è stabilito per un certo periodo in Libia per lavorare e studiare . Al suo ritorno in patria , ha pubblicato nel 1967 un manuale per lo studio del ney secondo un metodo scientifico che ha elevato l’approccio teorico all’apprendimento del flauto arabo.
Purtroppo le informazioni su questo grande musicista scarseggiano ed altrettanto scarse sono le fonti sonore a disposizione. Propongo in questa sede la cassetta fortunatamente trovata al Cairo ed alcuni brani messi gentilmente a disposizione dagli utenti del forum Sama3y.
N.B.
Chi si trovasse al Cairo e volesse rovistare tra Cd e Cassette, il Negozio Sawt el Qahira si trova in al Borsa el Gadida, una traversa di Qasr el Nil . Arrivando da piazza Tahrir , superata Midan Talaat Harb , una volta imboccata Qasr El Nil , al Borsa el Gadida è la terza via sulla sinistra. Il negozio si trova più avanti sulla destra.
Abdel Hamid Masha'l عبد الحميد مشعل - Musiqa Sharqiyya موسيقى شرقية
A2 Raqsa Khuzal رقصة القزال
A3 Raqsa Najla' رقصة نجلاء
B1 Raqsa Al wadj رقصة الودج
B2 Zaqqa Iskandrany زقة اسكندراني
B3 Raqsa Nadia رقصة نادية
Abdel Hamid Masha'l عبد الحميد مشعل - El Bolbol البلبل
A1 El Bolbol البلبل
A2 Dar Essalam دار السلام
B1 Fajr Ennour فجر النور
B2 Qamar قمر 14
HERE
Abdel Hamid Masha'l عبد الحميد مشعل - Al Madina Al Mounawara المدينة المنورة
A1 Al Madina Al Mounawara المدينة المنورة
B1 Farhat El Ahbab فرحة الأحباب
B2 Ala Khaddou Chama على خده شامة
HERE
A1 El Bolbol البلبل
A2 Dar Essalam دار السلام
B1 Fajr Ennour فجر النور
B2 Qamar قمر 14
HERE
Abdel Hamid Masha'l عبد الحميد مشعل - Al Madina Al Mounawara المدينة المنورة
A1 Al Madina Al Mounawara المدينة المنورة
B1 Farhat El Ahbab فرحة الأحباب
B2 Ala Khaddou Chama على خده شامة
HERE
Abdel Hamid Masha'l عبد الحميد مشعل
01 Malik wamal al hubb مالك ومال الحب
02 Ya Asmar ahwak يا أسمر أهواك
03 Taksim Ney تقاسيم ناى
04 Habibi ghat 'anny حبيبي غاب عني
05 Allah ma'ak ya zin الله معاك يا زين
06 Yaum Mawlid al mukhtar يوم مولد المختار
07 Ya yumma al Qamar ya yumma يا يمه القمر يايمه
08 Ihi illy bayna qalby wa qalbik إيه اللي بين قلبي وقلبك
09 Ya 'ashiq husnuhum يا عاشق حسنهم
10 Lih kulli mada ash shawq yazidليه كل ما دا الشوق يزيد
11 Ya ally inta qa'id bis ly ياللي إنت قاعد بص لي
12 Tawil balak طول بالك
13 Ya Ally safirti ma futti ala ياللي سافرت ما فت علي
14 Ana maly ana fy haly أنا مالي أنا في حالي
15 Azyk inta ازيك انت
16 Kullu ma tashufka 'ayn كل ماتشوفك عينيّه
Thanks very much for this! As a connoisseur of "oriental music for the belly dance" I am somewhat surprised that I have not heard or heard of him in all the decades I've been playing and collecting belly dance music. Hopefully I'll be able to find a physical copy of the tape so I can transfer it and clean it up... Until then, mille grazie!
RispondiEliminaThanx for what you published about my dear dad
RispondiEliminaIm his youngest daughter and im a music teacher artiste singer and actres
Please pray for him he has passed away since one year and
I am very sorry for your father's passing. I think you can be proud of him, he was a great musician. A post dedicated to him seems to me the least.
RispondiEliminahi, the last tree links are expired; could you upload it again? bye and thanks for this blog;
RispondiEliminaHi, thanks for the report. I reloaded everything
RispondiEliminaThis was lovely to reead
RispondiEliminaGrrateful for sharing this
RispondiElimina