FAISAL ALAWI Master of Yemeni Folklore Song [Archives:1999/02/Culture]

Folklore songs are considered the most genuine and most popular songs among the Yemeni masses in various governorates. That art, which reflects popular heritage, lives in the hearts of generations.
One of the popular folklore songs is the “Qomendan” that was best sung by Faisal Alawi. Actually, we owe to this singer the very revival, spread and popularity of that kind of folk music.

Alawi, a native of Lahej, and a singer who blossomed in Aden, succeeded in restoring the most original of Yemeni folklore songs. He brought them back from oblivion, and through his very attractive voice and singing abilities, made them popular – not only in Yemen, but in the whole Arabian Peninsula.
Alawi was born in Houta, Lahej governorate in the late forties to a relatively well off farming family that was also attracted to arts. He was affected by his father who practised singing as a hobby and who was greatly interested in folklore songs.
He was also affected by Laheji songs chanted by singers of that time in social occasions, such as marriage. That is how he got hooked on the Qomendan type of songs in Lahej villages.
Alawi qyuickly rose between the ranks. He was among the singers chosen to join the Lahej musical band in the fifties. That gave him the opportunity to learn to play a number of musical instruments, including the lute which he loved and mastered.
He recorded his first song at Aden radio in the early sixties. That was an immediate success with the public. But, he did not follow on that success, partly because because he moved with his family to Abyan where he settled. There, his contribution was limited to marriage festivals and the various social occasions in harvest seasons.
In the early seventies, Alawi was invited to Kuwait where he sang in a number of artistic carnivals. His name hit the headlines ushering in a new era of success. The success story continued. He recorded for Kuwait radio a number of his Qomendan songs which were widely spread among the Kuwaiti and Yemeni folklore fans. The Romco company for artistic production recorded a number of musical albums for Alawi in the middle of the seventies, alone with the lute or accompanied by a band. The Yemeni community in Britain invited him to perform in a number of artistic festivals in London, which were crowded with Yemeni expatriates longing for pop music from the homeland.
Alawi travelled from one country to another, especially in the Gulf, chanting his songs. He stands among Yemen’s top singers with massive public appeal.
By: Saleh Abdulbaqi
YT Art Editor
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