Ahmad Tilawi & Fariha Al Abdullah

Haflet Manbej (Manbej Concert)

• Attaba
• Swehli

• Nayel
• Al Fitra Wa Al Zaboun (The Instinct and Customer)

Credits

Keyboards: Mahmoud Al SalehOud: Ali DayoubPercussions: Ghassan HadidDrums: Monther AbbasAl Reef & Al Angham - HomsSound Engineer: Hussein Jawad & Rami Ibrahim

More Info

One of our favorite duos in the archive, this tape brings together Fariha al Abdullah and Ahmad Tilawi in their joint performance in Manbij. The two share a high degree of familiarity and chemistry that is evident from the beginning of the tape and from the way they address each other in the songs. Tilawi brings with him the rural sound of Idlib's music, to which Fariha adds features of Bedouin music, together producing a Syrian shaabi tape that could be described as perfect. During the nineties, Ahmad Tilawi, who comes from the city of Saraqib in Idlib governorate, had achieved great fame and popularity in the Syrian shaabi scene and performed tirelessly at weddings and private parties. Tilawi lived his entire life in his home city and never left until armed clashes forced him to. On a video posted on social media in 2021, Tilawi could be seen singing attaba and crying over the mention of his city. Tilawi sang next to Fariha on many occasions. He supported her early career, which started when she was only 18. She comes from a shaabi background in Homs, whose singers are called "Hajjiat" or "Sheikhat", and are relatively rejected in the conservative Syrian communities there. However, she maintained an active career for over thirty years, and now holds the title 'singer of the desert'.