User:Hugh Beresford1997/Arabic Music

Genres

Franco-Arabic

Franco-Arabic music is a popular form of West-meets-East style of music, similar in many respects to modern Arabic Pop. This blend of western and eastern music was popularized by artists such as Dalida (Egypt), Sammy Clark (Lebanon), and Aldo from Australia. Although Franco-Arabic music includes many forms of cross-cultural blending between the West and the Middle East, musically the genre crosses over many lines as is seen in songs that incorporate Arabic and Italian, Arabic and French and, of course, Arabic and English styles or lyrics.

Arabic R&B, reggae, and hip hop

Main article: Arabic hip hop

There has also been a rise of R&B, reggae and hip hop influenced Arab music in the past couple of years. These songs usually feature a rapper in a traditional Arab pop song (such as Ishtar's song 'Habibi Sawah'). The Moroccan singer Elam Jay developed a contemporary version of the Gnawa genre that is fused with R&B which he named Gnawitone Styla. Another variation of contemporary Gnawa played in Morocco is introduced by Darga. Based in Casablanca, the group fuses Gnawa with Reggae. Political Reggae artists such as TootArd from the occupied Syrian Golan Heights and from Haifa (Originally from Iqrith) started gaining popularity in Palestine in 2011 after the YouTube premiere of a song about the Arab Spring (mainly the Tunisian revolution), called "The Green Revolution", sung by them and an ensemble of Palestinian artists, most notable among them being Mahmoud Jrere of DAM. Notable is Shadia Mansour, a Palestinian British rapper known as "The First Lady of Arab Hip Hop." Much of her music focuses on the Palestinian cause.

Also there is the Moroccan pop introduced by the Moroccan singer Oussama Belhcen who's mixing between the American and the Moroccan music in his songs.

However certain artists have taken to using full R&B and reggae beats and styling such as Darine. This has been met with mixed critical and commercial reaction. As of now it is not a widespread genre.

Arabic electronica

Electronic dance music is another genre to come out into popularity. Often, songs in this genre would combine electronic musical instruments with traditional Middle Eastern instruments. Artists like Richii popularized this style with songs like "Ana Lubnaneyoun".

Arabic jazz

Another popular form of West meets East, Arabic jazz is also popular, with many songs using jazz instruments. Early jazz influences began with the use of the saxophone by musicians like Samir Suroor, in the "oriental" style. The use of the saxophone in that manner can be found in Abdel Halim Hafez's songs, as well as Kadim Al Sahir and Rida Al Abdallah today. The first mainstream jazz elements were incorporated into Arabic music by the Rahbani brothers. Fairuz's later work was almost exclusively made up of jazz songs, composed by her son Ziad Rahbani. Ziad Rahbani also pioneered today's oriental jazz movement, to which singers including Rima Khcheich, Salma El Mosfi, and (on occasion) Latifa adhere. We can also find a lot of jazz music in Mohamed Mounir's songs starting from his first album Alemony Eneeki in 1977, and he is considered to be the King of Arabic Jazz and Arabic Music generally. Another notable performer of this genre is the Palestinian singer Reem Kelani who blends jazz with Arabic music, both in her own compositions and in her arrangements of traditional songs.

Arabic Jazz has met many new kinds of composition since the end of the 20th century:

• Modal forms with Anouar Brahem and Rabih Abou Khalil
• Mixed electric sound experiences with Dhafer Youssef and Kamal Musallam
• New pop jazz styles with Titi Robin and Toufic Farroukh
• Other acoustic youth experiences with Hamdi Makhlouf, Amine & Hamza M'raihi and Jasser Haj Youssef

Arabic rock

Rock music is popular all around the world, the Arab world being no exception. There have been many Arab rock bands along the years that fused rock, metal and alternative rock sounds with traditional Arab instruments.

Arabic rock has been gaining a lot of attention lately in the Middle East with bands like Cairokee, JadaL, Kayan, Autostrad, El Morabba3 and Akher Zapheer of Jordan, The Wanton Bishops, Mashrou' Leila and Meen of Lebanon, Massar Egbari, Sahara, Wyvern and Cartoon Killerz of Egypt, Khalas, and Chaos of Palestine and Acrassicauda of Iraq. The Tunisian rock band Myrath is gaining popularity worldwide. The band Hoba Hoba Spirit from Morocco is also gaining popularity, especially in the Maghrebi region. Rachid Taha, an Algerian musician, plays a fusion of rock and raï.

Recently, there has been a new wave of bands emerging in the underground scene across the Arab world. These include Shaghaf, Khayal, Sada That, Code Masr and Hawas of Egypt and Ayloul of Lebanon.

Improvisational Music in the Arabic Mediterranean region.

Ethnomusicologist Ali Jihad Racy talks about the improvisational style of music that is present in much of the Mediterranean world. Racy discusses the regional attitudes towards improvisational music in the Middle East describing that improvisation can suggest casual or untrained or even non-professional music-making. This is held only by certain communities within the Arabic world and can differ from each region or community. Some regions look at improvisational music as the intuitive artistic ability that momentarily expresses the feeling of the player. Other groups tend to view improvisation as though it is the fulfillment of music transcending the classical maqam style or other styles of music playing. Other schools of thought on improvisational music, in the Arab world, believe that improvisational music shows a lack of understanding in musical training. Racy does not specify which groups have what views. Rather, the discussion is more focused on the idea that the Arabic music world is not monolithic in its view on improvisation in music. Other groups view improvisational as only learned through trial and error taking many years to perfect thus being a style played professionals.

Taqasim

A respectable tradition in improvisational music is known as Taqasim. Taqasim music uses a maqam and improvises the form or structure of the song, which creates a cathartic experience for the listener. Further, the improvisational aspects go beyond the form and are expressed in the quartertones of the song. This tradition historically was performed as a chant. Now it is used by performers on the oud/ud, violin, or nay, a type of flute. This style of improvisational is known for the effects it can conjure from a listener. Listeners have been known to laugh, cry, and shout, all from different parts of the same performance due to the improvisational music aligning exactly to draw extreme emotion from someone.

More improvisation styles are discussed as follows:

• A certain type of Arabic chant is in the melismatic style and is both long and highly ornamented. It has specific elements of free rhythm and improvisation as part of its structure. Syllabic chant is isochronic is accompanied by al-durbkkeh (a percussion instrument. drum.) and is relatively fast in its nature. Participation from the listeners is usually engaged through the clapping of hands to the rhythm.
• Ethnomusicologist Jargy tells of another type of improvisational music in which he uses the name Median. This music is a combination of the syllabic chant and the melismatic style. Median improvisational music uses more extreme improvisational methods and expands the boundaries of improvisation and is usually faster than syllabic chant.
• The last improvisational style discussed by Jargy is the recitative style that is sung predominantly by women and is built on aural tradition.