Ammar El Sherei is a true colossus of Egyptian music, a child prodigy who was born blind but who grew to become both a daring innovator and a celebrated composer in music, film and TV. Recognised as a unique talent at an early age he studied and mastered piano, oud and composition including via correspondence at the Hadley School for the Blind in the US alongside the more conventional subjects which he was expected to excel in. El Sherei came from an upper middle class family of means so a career in music was hardly encouraged (and probably discouraged) but as a sign of his intrepidness and self-belief, he began playing the accordion in Cairo’s bars and clubs until his compositions started being picked up by established Egyptian stars launching his long and brilliant career.
"Oriental Music" was one of his earlier recordings and it is a majestic celebration of the music of another Egyptian legend, Mohamed Abdel Wahab, who co-founded Soutelphan, the label which this LP was originally released on in 1976. Utilising early electronic keyboards like the Steelphon S900 or the Farfisa, El Sherei created a record of pure atmosphere which sounds to my inexperienced western ears both ancient and modern which I suppose was his aim. The synths sound huge and the strings and percussion subtle yet compelling, these are exceptional Arabic grooves. Harnessing traditional melody to the (then) cutting edge of synthesised equipment and sounds, El Sherei did for Middle Eastern music what Stevie Wonder (ironically also blind) did for funk and soul music, leading the vanguard of innovation in sonic possibilities within a well-trodden musical form. El Sherei was even asked by Japanese keyboard maker Yamaha Corp. to help in the development of new electronic keyboards!
A digger’s jewel since it’s release in 1976 and commanding silly prices, WEWANTSOUNDS are thankfully reissuing this wonderful record on vinyl only with the original artwork (and the unexplained misspelling of his name) in October. Like every release on the label, it is recommended you pre-order as they sell out fast!
Released Oct 16th 2020