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ARTIST
TITLE
Shbahoth: Iraqi-Jewish Song from the 1920's
FORMAT
CD

LABEL
CATALOG #
REN 126CD REN 126CD
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
2/2/2010

Originally released in 2008, this anthology presents for the first time on CD the greatest of the Iraqi Jewish singers in historical recordings from the1920s. This reissue, the first in a series of historic Jewish recordings by Renair Records, makes available, in carefully remastered sound by Duncan Cowell (well-known for his work for labels like Ace, Soul Jazz and Soundway), echoes of two millennia of tradition. In the 1920s, nearly all instrumental performers in Iraq were Jewish. The Jewish tradition in Iraq goes back to the time of the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and the subsequent exile to Babylon some 2,500 years ago. This unbroken tradition finally ended during the mass immigration of 125,000 Iraqi Jews to Israel in the early 1950s. Although some recordings were made in Israel by Iraqi singers, this anthology allows us to hear the authentic sounds of Iraq without later influences. Shbahoth -- or Songs of Praise -- are sung on the Sabbath and on other important holidays, such as Sukkoth or the Feast of the Tabernacles (Selim Daoud's "Sukkah Welulab" and Shlomo Mouallim's "Sukkah Welulab") or pilgrimages to the tombs of Ezekiel or Ezra (Yishaq Maroudy's "Suri Go-Aliyyah"). Although sung by the abu shbahoth or "Master of Praises," he would be joined by the community in singing and clapping, as can be heard on Daoud's "El Eliyyahu" and "Eres Ha-Quedoshah." Also included are recordings by the abu shbahoth Hagguli Shmuel Darzi and two rousing performances by Israelite Choir. Following a chance discovery by Julian Futter of the original 78s (which included unissued test pressings), Julian and Sara Manasseh, the distinguished music scholar whose family came from Iraq, decided to make these records available again. Manasseh's illuminating sleevenotes place the music in its religious perspective and make it accessible to the non-specialist listener.