A group of musicians are causing a sensation in Jordan, reviving the golden age of Arab song – and not one of them is under the age of 50.
“I would give you anything for the feast,” Beshara Rabadi, 62, sang to an enthusiastic crowd at a concert hall in central Amman, “my angel.”
Many instantly recognized the song of famous Iraqi singer Nazem al-Ghazali, responding with applause and singing the rest of the phrase.
“But you have everything,” Rabadi crooned.
“Should I give you bracelets? I don’t want to tie your hands.”
Founded in 2008, Beit al-Ruwwad (The House of Pioneers) celebrates the golden era of Arab music represented by Ghazali and legendary Egyptian diva Oum Kalthoum as well as Jordan’s folkloric songs.
The musicians, some of them in their 80s, wear dark suits, sometimes sunglasses, as they play a wide range of instruments – oud, ney, accordion and various percussion instruments.
Each Tuesday, they stage a free concert at Amman’s Al Hussein Cultural Center.
“Our goal is to preserve classical Jordanian and Arabic music,” said the group’s founder and leader Sakher Hattar, 54, “and provide a comfortable social space that supports original art and artists.”
A buzz spread throughout the audience as the group performed another well-known song about a girl leaving her family home to get married. Women raised their hands while an older man spun a cane above his head and tried out a few dance steps.
“I come every Tuesday,” said Russayla Bayzidi, 75, sitting in the front row in a white hijab and an elegant electric blue jacket. “I never miss the concert.
“I love these old songs because they take me back to a beautiful time,” she said. “I relax so much when I come to these concerts.”
The group’s fans include people from across Jordanian society and the concerts always have a family atmosphere, said Hattar, who heads the Arabic music department at Jordan’s National Music Conservatory, where he teaches oud.
He likes to reminisce about how the group was formed.
He had met officials at the Culture Ministry to discuss having veteran musicians perform individually at the annual Jerash Festival, which assembles artists from across the Arab world.
“They were rejected on the basis that they weren’t able to perform,” Hattar said.
“That idea hurt and it gave me the idea of setting up the band,” he added.
He set about gathering a group of musicians in their later years – including vocalists Mohamed Wahib, 84, Salwa al-Aas, 74, and Fouad Hijazi, 70.
“These artists still have a lot to give,” Hattar said.
“They have a really high standard of musicianship.”
Earlier this month, marking 10 years since the group was founded, King Abdullah II presented Hattar with an award for the band’s role in supporting pioneering musicians.
The group had “brought together pioneers who gave a lot to Jordanian and Arab art,” Wahib said.
“I’ve been passionate about music since my childhood,” he added, saying he’d launched his career singing on Radio Ramallah in 1958.
A contemporary of greats such as Mohammad Abdel Wahhab and Farid al-Atrash, the octogenarian credits Beit al-Ruwwad with giving him the desire to continue.
“The old songs are different from those of today,” Wahib said, “and people who come to see us feel that they are transported into the past.”
The group also hopes to reach a younger audience, sexagenarian singer Osama Jabbur said.
“We try to create a link between old and new.”
by Mussa Hattar
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