Legend of Arab Music

Oum Kalthoum

album cover

The Star of the East

One persistent and unproven legend about Egyptian singer and songwriter Oum Kalthoum (1904–1975) has to do with the scarves she held and waved around during her performances. Some contend that she was able to sing so passionately for such duration—a typical concert might contain three or four tunes and last six hours—because the scarves were doused with opium or hashish.

These writhing, sobbing phrases invite that kind of speculation; they seem divinely inspired, barely connected to earthly concerns. Kalthoum began performing at age twelve, when her father, an imam, disguised her as a boy so she could be part of his troupe. Her professional career began in the late 1920s, and within a decade she was a star, with a popular radio show, film roles, and a reputation for stirring deep emotions within her listeners. More than once, Bob Dylan has mentioned her among his favorite singers.

Legend contains recordings made in the 1950s and '60s, when Kalthoum was at the peak of her improvisatory powers. The pieces, most concerned with love and longing, each last at least twenty minutes, and for much of that time Kalthoum can be heard repeating key phrases and contorting her voice into improbable shapes, in pursuit of the ecstatic state known in Arabic music as tarab. The path she takes is not a straight line—some-times she executes half-step trills and tricky turns with fastidious precision, and sometimes her lines float along, all wiggly-worm loose. When Kalthoum really gets riffing, her listeners respond with loud shouts or applause, and the interaction inspires even more adventurous leaps. On and on it goes, until what began as a simple declaration of love becomes an extraordinary journey, epic in scope and spine-chilling in its intensity.

Genre: World
Released: 2007, Retro/Proper. (Recorded between 1952 and 1967.)
Key Tracks: "Gadet hobak leih," "Hadeeth al rouh"
Collector's Note: Kalthoum's name is spelled many different ways—as Om Koultoum, Om Kalthoum, Oum Kalsoum, Oum Kalthum, Omm Kolsoum, Umm Kolthoum, Um Kalthoom.
Catalog Choice: Inta Omri
Next Stop: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: In Concert in Paris
After That: Fairuz: Legendary Fairuz
Book Pages: 418–419