Suleiman Al Shaar in Five Cassettes It happened that our archive began with a tape by Suleiman Al Shaar, which is cataloged as the first Syrian music tape we acquired, bearing the serial number 0001, with his tape The Wonders of Eastern Dabke. Suleiman Al Shaar indeed forms a suitable entry point to Syrian shaabi music, as his career has explored various musical genres from dabke and dal'ona to ataba, mawal, and mijana. Al Shaar hails from the village of Fajleet in rural Tartous and began his career in the early 1990s when he was discovered by sound engineer Bassam Zeidan, founder of Al Arz Records. Zeidan recorded many of Al Shaar’s concerts, weddings, and private cassette albums. Alongside Zeidan, another key figure in Al Shaar’s trajectory is the Syrian shaabi poet Talib Shahoud, who wrote numerous mawwals and atabas for him. Shahoud's contributions helped Al Shaar build a substantial repertoire of original songs in addition to the traditional works he continues to revive in his performances. We have chosen five cassettes here that highlight different aspects of Suleiman Al Shaar's rich musical career. Suleiman Al Shaar – The Wonders of Eastern Dabke This cassette dates back to the beginning of Al Shaar's career in the early 1990s. It features classics of Syrian shaabi music, delivered with his strong, youthful voice, which reflects the rich, resonant qualities typical of singers from the mountainous regions of Syria. The tape was produced and distributed by Al Arz Records, Al Nujoum Records, and Al Sawt Al Naqi Records. Al Shaar opens Side A with a heartfelt rendition of the iconic Syrian shaabi song Yalli Khadtou Mahboubi, which takes up most of the side. Accompanied by a rhythmic and string-based arrangement, Al Shaar delivers the song verse by verse, with a measured pace that gives each syllable its due and faithfully conveys the emotion embedded in the lyrics. Suleiman Al Shaar – Atter Almuhajer (Migrating Bird) This cassette stands out in both Suleiman Al Shaar's discography and our archive for its experimental and progressive approach, which attempts to push the boundaries of Syrian shaabi music into new territories.. With this recording, Al Shaar presents us with a concept album, with songs that narrate successive chapters of a single story about migration from one's homeland due to challenging circumstances. The album's songs were written by poet Talib Shahoud, with whom Suleiman Al Shaar collaborated extensively during his career. The album was produced by Al Arz Records, the label that supported Al Shaar’s career after he was taken under the wing of Bassam Zeidan, the company’s founder and sound engineer. The arrangements, melodies, and lyrics of these songs may deceive the listener into thinking they are revived traditional pieces — but in fact, they are all original works written specifically for Suleiman Al Shaar. Suleiman Al Shaar – Mdallal (Spoiled) This cassette comes to us from a double wedding performed by Suleiman Al Shaar in his hometown village of Fajleet in rural Tartous. The tape derives its title from the classic Syrian shaabi song Mdallal, which comprises the entirety of Side A. For the occasion, Suleiman modifies the song's lyrics to suit the context of the wedding – a move that demonstrates the deep connection between weddings and Syrian shaabi music. His vocals are driven by a frenzied, high-energy keyboard accompaniment that propels the arrangement forward. Suleiman Al Shaar – Attabat & Mawaweel & Mijana As the title suggests, we listen here to a series of slow mawals in the forms of ataba and mijana – genres in which Suleiman Al Shaar seems very comfortable. His delivery, both here and throughout his other recordings, is characterized by fluency and deliberation, aligning it more closely with mawwals and tarab than to the lively dance energy of dabke. His singing is shadowed by a string arrangement that seems to punctuate his words. Both sides of the cassette proceed at an near constant speed, helping draw the listener into a deep, immersive experience. Suleiman Al Shaar – Risalat Aldal'ona (Dal'ona Letter) Here, Suleiman Al Shaar takes on the challenge of the dal'ona, a song so frequently revived that it has evolved into a genre of its own, and performing it has become a rite of passage for many Syrian singers. In his distinctive version of the song, Al Shaar writes a letter to his beloved in the form of dal'ona, singing a portion of it in each verse of the song. Moving smoothly between vocal registers , he brings the song a dynamism that enhances its appeal and invites repeated listening.