Treasure trove: Middle Eastern recorded music from the British Library

The British Library has a very nice sound archive that includes 74 items from the Middle East, digitized shellac recordings.

Most famous of the artists recorded here (10 tracks) is the Iraqi Jewish singer Salima Murad (1970-1972), listed here as Sitt Salima Pasha, as she was also known. Her tracks are all from the 1930s.

Salima Murad

Also worth hearing are two tracks from Sitt Mounira Hawazwaz, another female Jewish Iraqi singer. Two tracks from her, also from the 1930s.

And also cool, a couple tracks recorded in Bombay, India, by Muhamed Abdul Salam, presumably a Saudi 'ud player and vocalist. Finally, six very nice tracks from Ustad Salim Rashid Suri of Oman.

You should check them all out. Like I said, a true treasure.

Iraqi Jewish singer Salima Pasha Murad

Here are two sources for a bio, one from a project for a documentary on the singer, the other, from wikipedia. Written sources are paltry. Here's a more general one on Iraqi Jewish music.

But there is lots of her music up on youtube, including television footage. Here's a great one:


You can find many more, especially by searching with her name in Arabic: سليمه مراد