The Music Of Mohamed Abdel Wahab

Reissue of the oud / viola virtuoso Simon Shaheen's interpretations of pieces by one of the Middle East's most important 20th Century composers, Mohamed Abdel Wahab. Produced by Bill Laswell, remastered for vinyl at D&M Berlin. 

Wahab (1902-1991) was "a giant in the world of Middle Eastern entertainment" (Al Jadid Magazine) - as singer, actor and composer – and is commonly considered"the father of modern Egyptian song". After a visit to Paris, he revolutionized the film industry by introducing the genre "musical film" to the Arabic world, the movie "The White Rose" in which he starred broke all records and to this day is frequently presented in Cairo's cinemas. But in 1950,WAHAB left the film industry to focus on singing and composing – he wrote over 1800 songs(among others for Umm Kalthoum, an iconic artist in the Arabic music in her own right) that were deeply rooted in classical Arabic music but also laid the foundation for a new era of Egyptian music as WAHAB was open to Western elements such as waltz rhythms or even rock'n'roll in AbdelHalim Hafez's song "Ya Albi Ya Khali". 

Simon Shaheen (born 1955) is the perfect choice for Wahab's compositions. Born into a family of gifted musicians, he learned playing the oud at the age of 5 and the violin shortly thereafter. Heearned degrees in Arabic literature and music performance at the Tel Aviv University, and later pursued further studies at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and after his emigration to the USA (in1980) at the Manhattan School of Music and Columbia University.