Death of Lebanese Diva Sabah

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BarkellWH

Posts: 3458
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC

Death of Lebanese Diva Sabah

Sabah, the famous Lebanese singer who was an iconic diva in the Arab World, died on November 26. She, in her own way, appeared to be as famous as the other diva in the Arab World Oum Kalthoum, who died in 1975. According to reports, Sabah was as outrageous in her behavior as Cher is in the U.S. She was supposed to have been married nine times, which would outperform Elizabeth Taylor's seven marriages.

Bill

_____________________________

And the end of the fight is a tombstone white,
With the name of the late deceased,
And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here,
Who tried to hustle the East."

--Rudyard Kipling

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 1 2014 1:15:48

runner

Posts: 357
Joined: Dec. 5 2008
From: New Jersey USA

RE: Death of Lebanese Diva Sabah (in reply to BarkellWH)

Bill, thanks for posting the news of the death of Sabah. She was certainly a vibrant, engaging singer, judging by the YouTube videos I watched to familiarize myself with her art. I have no long background with Arabic music, other than listening with fascination to Radio Cairo and Oum Kalthoum on shortwave many score years ago. The mysterious ebb and flow of the shortwave transmission, as it responded to the vagaries of the ether, added to the sense of mystery and exoticism.

But by a series of circumstances, I have recently become engaged by the equally intriguing singing of the Mauritanian singer Garmi Mint Abba, whose art I referenced a short while ago. Further research shows Garmi to be the daughter of recently deceased Dimi Mint Abba, herself a legend of Arabic African (specifically Mauritanian) song. Both Dimi and now Garmi sing a very different sort of music from the urban sophistication of people like Sabah--theirs is a more extended and almost trancelike hypnotic flow of melody, seasoned with repeated vocalizations, and accompanied by a dronelike ensemble of traditional and modern instruments. I again recommend both Garmi and Dimi Mint Abba to those of adventurous musical taste. Where would we be without YouTube?

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 2 2014 13:52:22