Ahmad Tilawi

Jamila

Label

Location Issued

Artist Origin

More Info

For an artist who loves minimalist and quiet acoustic arrangements, we have here an opportunity to listen to Ahmad Tilawi in one of his most boisterous and festive tapes. In this live tape, he performs a collection of his songs most suitable for dance floors, such as Ana w Jamila (also known as Dabel Ya Dabel) on the first side, and Balwet Al Ishq on the second side. Ahmad Tilawi is considered a cornerstone in the recorded archive of the Syrian shaabi music scene. Prominent in the 1980s and 1990s, he was a key figure in performing ataba, shaabi, mawal, and dabke at private parties and weddings, to the extent that it's almost impossible to review a few cassettes in our archive without encountering his name. Sharing the stage with Tilawi was often seen as a rite of passage for emerging shaabi singers, both male and female, including Fariha Al-Abdullah, Ibrahim Al-Saad, and Hussein Al-Abdullah, especially in the field of ataba, which Tilawi’s name became synonymous with. Tilawi spent most of his life in his hometown of Saraqib, located in the countryside of Idlib, until heartbroken, armed conflicts forced him to do so.