Unhonored Zither Player, Mohammed Al-Najar [Archives:2000/28/Culture]
July 10 2000
Saleh Abdulbaki
Yemen Times
The literary scene witnessed late in the fifth decade of the previous century many turning points at the level of songs. There were associated with a new trend to renew and modernize the singing art based on different categories such as changing the form, selecting words, etc. The new trend came after a time when the traditional Yemeni song flourished and were widely used by many Yemeni artists.
Mr. Mohammed Salem Al-Najar, musician, gained popularity in the beginning of 1960s as the second famous musician playing the zither, not only in Yemen but over the Arab peninsula.
He was born in Al-Hutah, capital of Lahj in 1945. He was brought up and completed his primary and preparatory studies there. He is considered to be one of the pioneering musicians who effectively contributed – over 37 years – to the maturity of the Yemeni artistic form of singing. He was considerably influenced at the beginning of his career by the Arab and Lahji artistic forms. He hailed from a famous literary family in Lahj. His father, Salem, was a great artist who was very skilled in playing the lute. He was also very much talented in fixing musical instruments.
Mohammed has got two brothers; Ali, his elder brother, skilled in playing the violin, is now working with Lahj Musical Band which belongs to the Cultural Office. Abdu, his younger brother, is one of the best players of zither.
The first ever Yemeni who played this musical instrument, zither, especially in Lahj, was Mr. Ali Al-Jefri who brought it with him from Cairo, Egypt in 1960. It was given to him as a gift from some lovers of music there.
Mohammed’s sister, Noor, who is commonly called “Al-Najarah” is considered to be the first ever female singer to sing the authentic traditional heritage of Lahj. She is also very skilled in playing the lute.
Mohammed can magnificently handle other musical instruments such as lute and violin. His brother Abdu Salem Al-Najar taught him how to use the zither.
Late in the 1950s, Mohammed joined the Lahji Musical Club as a violinist. Then, he joined another musical club which obviously qualified him to master this art. This was the beginning of his career in the field of music. Later, due to some financial problems, he accompanied by his brother Abdu left his home village Lahj for Al-Buraikah, Aden. Both joined the then called British Oil Refinery in 1961. While he was living in the workers zone, he used to practice his hobby of playing these musical instruments. He established his own musical band called Al-Ghadir Musical Band which consisted of some budding and promising talents working in the refinery. This also gave them the opportunity to be acquainted with some great artists including Ahmad Qasem and Mohammed Murshed Naji. The late artist Abdu had worked with Mohammed Murshed Naji in recording some songs, the most famous of which is “An Saken Sana’a”. Unfortunately, he passed away in a car accident in Al-Buraika.
After his death, his brother Mohammed decided to follow his path, to play the zither. He decided to leave Al-Buraika for Sheikh Othman where he settled down. In the mid 1960s, he joined the Arab Musical Band as a zither player. This was one of the most famous musical bands at the time. Al-Murshidi and Ahmad Qasem were the most famous singers at the time. Through this band, Al-Najar had acquired a lot of new artistic fundamentals of singing which were adopted by the two famous singers. He benefited a lot from Ahmad Qasem with regard to the zither, especially after he came back from his studies of music at the High Institute for Music in Egypt. Thereafter, Mohammed excelled himself in this art.
It is worth noting that the Arab band was considered to be the first typical Yemeni musical band in terms of the modern musical instruments including contrabass, the western Spanish made guitar, cello. There were about 17 musicians playing different Eastern musical instruments which attracted the attention of different Yemeni singers for the excellent quality of their performance.
Al-Najar had also contributed magnificent musical compositions during the celebration of the revolution in September 1962. Invited by the Liberation Front based in the then Northern part, the band held some concerts in Taiz. This coincided with the political strife of the armed struggle against the British colonization in the then Southern part of the country. This was the first ever participation of the artists of the then Southern part of Yemen in the ceremonies following the revolution of the 26 September. The band held concerts in different governorates including Taiz, Sana’a and Hodeidah. The revenues earned from the concerts were contributed to the liberation army.
Some Yemeni singers who used to participate in such concerts were Mohammed Sa’ad Abdullah, Taha Fara’a, Yusef Ahmad Salem Mohammed Salem bin Shamekh, Raja Ba Sudan, Asmahan Abdulaziz, Nadiah Abdullah, and others. When the ministry of information was informed of the band’s arrival, Mr. Muhssen Al-Jibri, general manager of Sana’a radio station at the time, was one of the most enthusiastic patrons to promote the band headed by Mohammed Sa’ad Abdullah in Sana’a and make some of its members work with some Yemeni singers such as Ali Al-Anisi, Ali Al-Semah, Ahmad Al-Sunaidar. Al-Harithi, etc. The band then was divided into two: some wanted to stay in Sana’a while the second party wanted to go back to Aden. Some of those who stayed in Sana’a were Fadl and Mohammed Al-Salam, Abdul Baki, Saeed Farhan, the journalist Mohammed Al-Makhshaf and Mohammed Al-Najar. Their stay in Sana’a at the time gave the artists from Sana’a the opportunity to develop and improvise their methods and techniques in singing. The band had influenced and contributed a lot towards improving the Sana’ani singing which depended upon the lute and copper ‘Sahn’. Thus, Al-Najar along with his band was able to preserve the Sana’ani song and added a touch of artistic and aesthetic beauty to it. Al-Najar also recorded some compositions using his zither. The band stayed in Sana’a even during the famous 70-day siege.
When the then Southern part of Yemen became independent on November 30, 1967, Al-Najar along with his friends went back to Aden. At the beginning of 1970s, he joined the military force working as a nurse. Then, he was transferred to the musical department of the army. While he was working in the Army, he left Aden for Libya to participate in the celebrations held following the Al-Fateh revolution in September. Late in the 1970s, he joined the radio station as a sound controller. He did not stay for long there due to stagnant artistic activities. Therefore, he went back to his home village, Lahj which became his last destination. Now he lives among his family and has joined the band of Cultural Office in Lahj.
Mohammed Al-Najar is one of the greatest artists who have made commendable contributions to the development of the Yemeni music. However, despite all the commitment and devotion of this great musician, he and many other artists are living in miserable conditions. When Al-Najar left his village for the first time, he was afflicted by some financial problems. When he came back there he was no better. Al-Najar has spent his life developing the music in our country, therefore, he should be given at least a token of appreciation by the Ministry of Culture. We do cherish the hope that the Ministry will move to honor this talented musician along with others who devoted their whole life for their country. There are many artists who live unknown and die unknown as well.
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