Fariha Al Abdullah

Haflat Ras Al Sana (New Year's Eve)

• Atabat
• Malak Saheb (You Are Friendless)
• Atabat
• Ya Aula (Oh, Aula)
• Atabat

• Atabat
• Abu El Zulof (The Man With the Brown Locks)
• Halli (The One Who)
• Atabat

Label

Location Issued

Artist Origin

Credits

Keyboards: Mohammad Al Ashram Drums: Omran Al Dabe' - Mohammad Hasan

More Info

Contrary to what's written on the tape cover, we listen here to an Eid Al Fitr celebration, not a New Year's party, performed by Fariha Al Abdullah at a cafe on the banks of Qais and Layla river in Tartous. The tape gives us a glimpse of Fariha's career peak, her voice still strong and wide-ranging, while her singing benefits from experience accumulated over about two decades, presenting attaba and shaabi songs that are hard to match. Before Sarya Al-Sawas became the first lady of Syrian shaabi song, this throne belonged to another mighty voice, that of Fariha Al Abdullah. Fariha is still present today, but she lived a golden age in the 1990s, when she was abundantly present at weddings, private parties, and nightclubs. She collaborated with a wide spectrum of voices and musicians, and shaped the features of the Syrian shaabi singer with her highly dynamic voice adorned with a hoarseness that gives it sadness. At the beginning of her career, Fariha carried the classification of Al-Hajiat or Al-Sheikhat, a title given by the people of Homs to female Syrian shaabi singers from their region, who suffered rejection from their conservative societies. However, Fariha today carries another title she deservedly earned through her long career: Singer of the Badia.