Egyptian crooner Abdel Halim Hafez to be celebrated in Dubai Opera show
The classic sounds of Abdel Halim Hafiz will receive a new twist in a concert at Dubai Opera this weekend.
The Saturday night show is dubbed as a tribute to the late Egyptian crooner, and the London’s Harfoush Jazz Band will perform songs from the singer’s expansive repertoire, albeit with new arrangements and an added Latin twist. Purists may howl at the prospect, but band leader and vocalist Ahmed Harfoush says the new song formats are in line with Hafez’s adventurist spirit.
“That is the interesting part of the whole project for me,” says Harfoush. “For this show I spent time doing research on Hafez and looking for songs of his to ‘jazzify’, and I realised that a lot of his songs were already western sounding. So it wasn’t as difficult as I thought, and that’s because Hafez worked with different composers.”
Harfoush’s attachment to Hafez – who passed away in 1977 – stems from his childhood, with classics such as
Ahwak and Ya Alby Ya Khaly blearing out of the speakers of his family home in Cairo.
Harfoush, whose father was a diplomat, spent his pre-teen years in the United States before returning to Cairo for high school. After making his name as a young jazz vocalist and concert producer, he moved to London four years ago to further his music career.
Due to the bigger pool of jazz talent on display, Harfoush decided to ditch the US jazz standards he was covering and reacquaint himself with his mother tongue through the Egyptian Jazz Project.
Created nearly three years ago, the group plays jazz versions of singers hailing from Egypt’s musical golden era, such as Hafez, Mohammed Abdel Wahab, Umm Kulthum and Farid Al Atrash.
The new approach worked; Harfoush explains that he immediately achieved a new-found connection with the audience. “It is definitely more emotional for me and the crowd” he says.
“For a lot of people in the audience, the show brought back memories and this great sense of nostalgia, which I also feel because I think of my home and parents when I sing these songs.”
To celebrate Hafez’s 50th anniversary of his historic performance at London’s Royal Albert Hall, Harfoush formed a new band to play Hafez classics at the renowned venue. The success of the concert convinced him to take the show and the Harfoush Jazz Band on the road.
Yet singing these songs each night is no easy feat. Referred to as Al-Andaleeb Al-Asmar (The Black Nightingale), Hafez’s appeal lies in his subtlety.
Where his peers expressed themselves with vocal dexterity, Hafez kept it cool with songs such as Sawah and
Ganna El Hawa, exhibiting a croon both glacial and passionate. That expert minimalism, Harfoush says, was not easy to emulate.
“He was less operatic and more laid-back,” he says. “But there is a beautiful sophistication to his singing style. At the time, he showed us that you don’t have to overdo things. It is that subtlety that made him stand out. And because of that people paid attention to the songs.
“He had more hits than anyone in that time because he knew the importance of having a great melody.”
Judging by the packed audiences of Arab residents at recent shows across Europe, Harfoush says the songs elicit a different reaction depending on the age group.
“It is a generational thing perhaps,” he says. “When it comes to the younger crowd, there is an excitement that they are hearing these songs again that they heard from their childhood. But for an older crowd who came from Hafez’s time it is more emotional. There are a lot of tears and pride. It is really powerful.”
Saeed Saeed
Abdul Halim Hafez Tribute is on Friday at Dubai Opera from 8pm. Tickets from Dh195 are available to buy at www. dubaiopera.com