Iraqi Singer Tours US, Sings of Home
The biggest pop star in Iraq spent the late winter in an unlikely place - touring the US. His fans include Carlos Santana and Sarah Brightman, as well as the people of Baghdad.

In February & March, Arab singer Kazem Al-Sahir brought a 15-piece Middle Eastern orchestra to the US to accompany his brief visit to the US, during which he performed publicly in New York, Detroit, Chicago, Berkeley and San Diego, as well as to privately arranged audiences.

According to his press release, his gesture transcended politics... but was not naïve. Al-Sahir believes that there is no more important thing he can do at this perilous moment than extend a genuine hand of friendship from one Iraqi to all Americans.

Although now a Canadian citizen, Kazem Al-Sahir says, "I hope my music, and these performances with this notable group of some of the most talent Arab American musicians from all around the United States communicates a little bit of understanding and friendship with their fellow neighbors in these very difficult times.

Al-Sahir began composing at the age of 12. Iraqi TV asked him to perform, but only material written for him, an offer he refused. In the wake of the disatrous Iran-Iraq war, in which Al-Sahir lost friends, he wrote "Ladghat El Hayya, (The Snake Bite)," considered such a defiant song that it required drawing on friends inside Iraqi media to get it played. His popularity with the Iraqi people soared, but popularity with his government (who banned the song) ebbed.

Living in Dubai, Egypt, Paris and Canada since the Gulf War, Al-Sahir has become one of the Arabic world's best-selling artists (31 million sold). As a sign of his universal appeal, Al-Sahir's composition "Ana Wa Laila" was recently voted number-six among the world's most popular songs in a worldwide BBC listeners' poll.

Al-Sahir recently recorded " The War is Over," a duet with soprano Sarah Brightman, which will be released both on Brightman's new album and Al-Sahir's late 2003 release.

On his 2003 tour (to which he hopes to add a second leg in October), Al-Sahir was accompanied by an international ensemble of musicians from Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, the US and France. The instrumentation included nye flute, rik (percussion), mazhar (frame drums), tabla, drums, guitar, traditional accordion, qanoun (zither), violins, and cello.

A February 26 New York Times article describes his most popular song, "Beauty and his Love." In the song, he tells his girlfriend that there is someone he loves more, someone he sleeps with every night and dreams of daily. The secret passion is revealed to be... Baghdad. At the moment of revelation, his audiences erupt and jump to their feet. "And for a brief moment, the word Baghdad... was not associated with war and tyranny but with beauty and homesickness."

Listen to Kazem Al-Sahim's music

Link to Al-Sahir's tour information

Link to an interview with pictures in AfroPop

Link to coverage in the New York Times (subscribers only): a Feb. 26, 2003 NY Times ) background article and a March 4 concert review by Jon Pareles

Link to San Francisco and North Bay reviews of his Berkeley concert