On January 31, the tireless Parisian wellspring of reissues Wewantsounds presents a fresh edition of Music From the East, the second album from the iconic Egyptian musician and composer Ammar El Sherei. Originally released in 1976 by the Soutelphan label, it’s seeing its first ever vinyl reissue with this splendid new pressing. Offering seven songs in tribute to another legendary Egyptian musician and composer, namely Mohamed Abdel Wahab, the set strikes an infectious balance between classic Arabic melodicism and more contemporary strains of groove urgency. Nearly 50 years later, the fire still burns.
Ammar El Sherei released two records in 1976, debuting with Oriental Music, which received its first vinyl reissue by Wewantsounds back in 2020. With that set, the parameters of El Sherei’s style were immediately in place, as well established Arabic sounds, long snaky violin tendrils in particular, were an integral part of the foundation. Then-nascent keyboard models like the Steelphon S900 or the Farfisa (the latter is what’s pictured on the cover of Music From the East) were subsequently integrated into the scheme.
El Sherei also focused on songs from Abdel Wahab on Oriental Music, so there were no giant musical steps taken between his debut and Music From the East, though that’s not to suggest the LPs are interchangeable. One distinction is that Oriental Music relies a bit more on that aforementioned violin wiggle right out of the gate. Contrasting, Music From the East has a feel that’s more spacy, and immediately so in opener “El Kamh El Leila,” which unfolds a bit like El Sherei getting visited by the ghost of Joe Meek.
If an eager adopter of the latest musical tech, the mention of Meek should relate that El Sherei’s sound is a bit dated, and sometimes more than a little. That’s not to say that El Sherei’s music is chintzy or kitschy. To the contrary, there is enough rhythmic heat running through Music From the East and its predecessor that both records have been described more than once as funky.
And funky is an appropriate adjective, but with the distinction that El Sherei’s work won’t be confused with James Brown grinding it out with the JB’s on Soul Train in 1971. Instead, it’s kind of like stumbling into an ice-rink on the outskirts of Cairo to discover an afterhours party loaded with acrobatic skaters and voluptuous belly dancers. Music From the East accompanies this imagined scenario quite perfectly.
Although a rapid fire follow-up, Music From the East still seems to be paying homage to Abdel Wahab a bit more deliberately than does its predecessor, though the two records can be thought of as loving nods to a titan from an earlier generation. The impact is similar to (at least from the perspective of a cultural outsider) Merle Haggard’s A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player in the World (or, My Salute to Bob Wills) or The Gil Evans Orchestra Plays the Music of Jimi Hendrix.
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