Iraqi singer Ismael Fadhel who lives in Amman, released a new album entitled Qasaed (Poems) including seven poems written by the prominent Iraqi poets al Jawaheri, al Bayati, Saadi Yousef and Khalil al Khouri.
The album also includes various songs that revive the voices of Iraqi and other Arab singers such as al Qabanji, Mulla Othman al Mouseli, Wadie’ al Safi, Nathem al Ghazali, Yousef Omar, Abbas Jamil and Taleb al Qurrah al Ghouli.
The seven poems turned into songs were composed by Tareq Abu Zaid.
“The album constitutes a new experience in exploiting the Arab poem and human heritage to maintain the beautiful taste and spirit of the original Iraqi song,” Fadhel told the London based Arabic daily al Sharq al Awsat.
He pointed out that his experience in singing poems goes back to 1977 when he sang Law Annana Namdi (If We Go) by Khalil Khouri, Kimmat al Arab (Arab Summit) by the Jordanian poet Salem al Tarawneh and other poems by Muthaffar al Nawwab, Nazek al Malaekah and Mustafa Jamal Eddin.
Fadhel is a graduate of the Fine Arts Academy Music Section in Baghdad. He specializes in singing poems, rima terza and keys and has won many prizes and participated in many Arabic festivals. He won the first prize in the Iraqi Song Festival in 1977 and ranked number one in the 1997-1998 Art Day Festival. He also ranked number one at Dubai’s 1999 shopping festival -- Albawaba.com
