Stars Over Kuwait

DAOUD & SALAH AL-KUWAITY
Their Star Shall Never Fade (Magda)

While popular media focuses on the Arabic world through imagery of bombs and terror, the untapped reservoir of arts is barely allowed to surface. Yet this is precisely what is needed in American media: to promote the artistic, and coincidentally human, aspect of a side of the world predominantly exposed by visions of war. There are few better musicians to introduce than Daoud & Salah Al-Kuwaity, two Jewish brothers born in Iraq that would dominate the Middle Eastern music scene for much of the 20th century. Their family was among the first Jewish residents of Kuwait, and in 1918 their uncle returned from Indian with a violin and oud for the youngsters. They never turned back: after initial success in nightclubs in Basra the family moved to Baghdad where, eventually, preeminent musicians such as Eygpt’s Oum Kalthoum and Muhammad Abed-el Wahab turned to the brothers for compositional help. The Al-Kuwaity’s songs turned into some of their most cherished. Their Star Shall Never Fade, a two-CD topography of their extensive musical terrain, is a prosperous introduction to their work. It is a broad perspective, hinting at their focuses in cinema (they recorded music for an Arabic version of Romeo & Juliet), court music (having played at King Faisel’s coronation ceremony), and, of course, devotional songs. They remain essential components of Iraqi folk, with their lyrics of faith and redemption still played on national radio. These analog recordings, dusty and crackling, shine with a certain luster. Whether through the piercing vocals or Daoud’s exceptional performance on oud, it shows a side of Iraq we need to hear.