Osama Kamal listens to a young singer whose voice resonates with the voices of the past In the story of the birth of the Phoenix, Hans Christian Anderson tells an interesting folktale. "In the Garden of Paradise, beneath the Tree of Knowledge, bloomed a rose bush. Here, in the first rose, a bird was born. His flight was like the flashing of light, his plumage was beauteous, and his song ravishing. But when Eve plucked the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, when she and Adam were driven from Paradise, there fell from the flaming sword of the cherub a spark into the nest of the bird, which blazed up forthwith. The bird perished in the flames; but from the red egg in the nest there fluttered aloft a new one--the one solitary Phoenix bird." According to the folktale the Phoenix dwells in Arabia, and every hundred years she burns herself to death in his nest; but each time a new Phoenix, the only one in the world, rises up from the red egg. An ancient Egyptian papyrus tells an earlier version of the myth. A hymn to the sun god Ra goes thus: "Glory to him in the temple when he rises from the house of fire. All the gods love his smell and scent, when he draws near to the land of Arabs. He is the god of morning dew, and as he approaches Phoenicia, he shines with splendid beauty." Listening to this hymn, I am reminded of the singer Belal . The details of the ancient legend are nothing but a distant fantasy, and yet, for the audience at the River Hall of the Sawi Culture Wheel, with performing on stage, the "splendid beauty" of the Phoenix bird comes alive with every song. 's band Sehr al-Sharq (Magic of the Orient) starred in a concert at the Sawi Culture Wheel on 12 August, the second day of Ramadan. came on stage with the small band of only five performers. I listened to him as if to a Phoenix singing under the tree of knowledge. Still in his 20s, graduated from the Musical Education College in 2008. He makes a living, among other things, as a teacher of the oud (lute) and Arab singing at Sawi. is a keen follower of Sayyed Darwish (1892 -- 1923), the Alexandria-born musician who is widely credited for launching Egyptian singing into an exciting era of innovation. It was Darwish, says, who planted the seeds of the modern Egyptian song. In his set sang three songs by Darwish: " Telet ya Mahla Norha " ("She Came Glorious in Light"); " Al-Arwam " ("The Europeans") and "Dingi Dingi". The lyrics of all of the three songs were written by Badie Khayri, another great Egyptian artist. Khayri is not given enough credit for the contribution he has made to Egyptian theatre and singing. His cooperation with the comedian Naguib El-Rihani left us memorable stage plays, and his lyrics inspired some of Sayyed Darwish's best work. is not only infatuated with the Egyptian song legacy, but takes an academic interest in the subject and is currently working on a masters' dissertation about country folk songs, says that Egyptian-style music is the main reference for all oriental singing. His band performed its first concert in 2001 at the Musical Education College theatre, playing a piece by composer Abdel Monem El-Hariri (1924 -- 1989) bearing the title " Sehr al-Sharq ", from which the band borrowed its name. At first the band was much bigger with as many as 27 members at one point, but with time the band's style became simpler. Now anywhere between five and 10 members appear in any given performance. Since it was the holy month of Ramadan, treated the audience to a rendering of Mohamed Abdel-Motalleb's hit " Ramadan Gana " ("Ramadan is back"). Forever associated with the spirit of Ramadan, this song was composed by Mahmoud El-Sharif (1912 -- 1990), a brilliant disciple of Sayyed Darwish. sang Umm Kalthoum's " Awwedt Eini Ala Rouayk " ("My Eyes are Getting Used to Seeing You"). This is one of the most memorable songs of the diva, with lyrics by Ahmad Rami and music by Riad El-Sonbati. The two were close associates of Umm Kalthoum, writing and composing more than 20 of her songs. also sang a beautiful song made famous by Badria El-Sayyed, " Men Foq Shawashi al-Dora " ("From Above the Husks of Corn)", with lyrics by Ali Hammuda and music by Fathi Goneid. Sayyed was one of the best-loved folk singers of the 1950s and 1960s. She spent most of her life in Alexandria, performing at hundreds of weddings until her death in 1989. Another of the evening's highlights was Zakaria Ahmed's " Ya Salat al-Zein " ("A Prayer for the Lovely One"). Ahmed is one of the three big names in Egyptian singing, along with Sayyed Darwish and Mohamed El-Qasabgi. The three are credited with ridding Egyptian singing of its Ottoman orientation and bringing it to a realm of pure local inspiration. " Ya Salat al-Zein " was originally written for Umm Kalthoum, but the television recording of Ahmed performing the song in 1960, 20 years after the diva sang it, turned out to be one of the most cherished musical moments of the last century. Ahmed did not have much of a singing voice, but his emotional rendering, performed in a hoarse and throaty voice, struck a note with the public. also sang " Al-Fuul Wal Lahma " ("Beans with Meat") by Sheikh Imam. Imam and the poet Ahmad Fouad Negm were at the heart of political dissent in the 1960s and 1970s. Although the political scene has changed greatly since that time, their defiant energy inspires artists to this day. For the finale performed sections of " Al-Leila al-Kabira " ("The Big Night"), an operetta for the puppet theatre written by poet Salah Jahin with music by Sayyed Makkawi. Fifty years after it was first staged, the operetta, depicting scenes from the moulid, or saint's day festival, is still hugely popular. has written five songs: " Al-Mazad " ("The Auction"); " Tarabish " ("Fezes"); " Adam wa Hawwa " ("Adam and Eve"); " Maragih " ("Swings"); and " Farkhen Hamam " ("Two Pairs of Pigeons)". He sang only one of these at this concert, " Al-Mazad ". He also played a musical piece of his own composition entitled " Raqs al-Wurud " ("Song of the Flowers"). All of 's work is in oriental style, and most of it seems to be in homage to the musicians who followed in the footsteps of Sayyed Darwish: Mohamed El-Qasabgi, Zakaria Ahmed, Riyad El-Sonbati, Mahmoud El-Sherif, Sayyed Mekkawi and Sheikh Imam. His lyrics draw on authentic Egyptian details, just like the songs of the early 20th century. works with three poets: Mohamed Ezzeddin, Adel Abul Anwar and Omar Sameh. They are his professional associates as well as close friends, and just like him they take their cue from the music of the mid-20th century. has performed at the Alexandria Centre for Creativity, the Russian cultural Centre, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the Wekalet Al-Ghuri, the Musical Education College Theatre and the Art Education College Theatre. In May 2010 he gave a solo concert at the Catholic Centre to mark the passage of 104 years since the birth of Umm Kalthoum. Recently, he organised the "Leil and Mawwal" (Night and Ballad) festival at the Sawi Culture Wheel.Those of you who watched the TV show Al-Andalib (The Nightingale) will have heard performing, since the songs attributed to the character of composer Kamal El-Tawil were in his voice. In addition, he has written the scores for several university and school drama events. He currently coaches the Children's Choir associated to the Culture Development Fund. When I pointed out that his voice resembled that of the famous Egyptian singer Ali El-Haggar, seemed pleased with the observation. He admitted the accoustic resemblance but stressed that he was striving to leave his own mark on contemporary Egyptian singing. I believe he is doing this already.
