Songs of Wounded Kinship, a Review of the Town Hall, New York City, ASWAT concert of March 7, 2009

By David Shasha

Poet and scholar Ammiel Alcalay once appropriated the apt phrase "wounded kinship's last resort" in describing the role that music has played in maintaining what little connection is left between Arab Jews and their Middle Eastern compatriots. The place of the master musician Simon Shaheen in this complicated and contested relationship cannot be underestimated. Not only has Shaheen recorded many albums of classic Arabic music, as well as contemporary readings of the tradition, but he has also participated in many of the musical events that have over the years taken place in the Brooklyn Sephardic community. In private homes and synagogues, we have become familiar with the magical art of Simon Shaheen's mastery of this brilliant musical tradition.

Fez DrawingMany entered, but just five names were selected at random in our Fez Drawing at 5 pm on Wednesday, February 1

“We play heavy metal because our lives are heavy metal.” —Reda Zine, one of the founders of the Moroccan heavy-metal scene

“Music is the weapon of the future.” —Fela Kuti

Heavy Metal Islam: Rock, Resistance and the Struggle for the Soul of Islam: your purchase benefits LCC programmingMark LeVine is the author of Why They Don't Hate Us, Unveiling the Axis of Evil. In his new book, Heavy Metal Islam: Rock, Resistance and the Struggle for the Soul of Islam, you'll find an eighteen-year-old Moroccan who loves Black Sabbath. A twenty-two-year-old rapper from the Gaza Strip. A young Lebanese singer who quotes Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.” They are as representative of the world of Islam today as the conservatives and extremists we see every night on the news. Heavy metal, punk, hip-hop, and reggae are each the music of protest, and in many cases considered immoral in the Muslim world. This music may also turn out to be the soundtrack of a revolution unfolding across that world.