ZIAD RAHBANI-AMRAK SEEDNA & ABTAL WA HARAMEYAH

Wewantsounds announces the reissue of Ziad Rahbani's cult album Amrak Seedna & Abtal Wa Harameyah, one of his praised albums from the '80s, released on the sought-after Lebanese label Relax-in in 1987. This release is an event as the album, recorded at Rahbani's By-Pass studio, was only released in Lebanon at the time. Mixing Arabic music with funk and fusion jazz and hints of boogie, it's a bonified Rahbani classic, sought after by Arabic groove DJs and collectors around the world. The reissue features audio remastered by Colorsound Studio in Paris and a two-page insert with a new introduction by Mario Choueiry from Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris (English/French). Ziad Rahbani is a living legend of Arabic music and a cultural icon in Lebanon where he was born. His father was the famous composer and musician Assi Rahbani, of The Rahbani Brothers' fame and his mother is the legendary Lebanese Diva Fairuz, whom he produced in the late '70s and '80s with such classic albums as Wahdon and Maarifti Feek, that have become highly sought after among Arabic music DJs and collectors over the years. The album Amrak Seedna & Abtal Wa Harameyah was released in 1987 on the Beirut-based label Relax-in' and is the soundtrack to two theatre plays written by famous Lebanese playwright and actor Antoine Kerbaj (born 1935). These two plays were released in the middle of the Lebanese civil war and although Rahbani (who is also an actor) doesn't act in these, he masterminded the soundtrack, composing and recording them at his By-Pass recording studio in Beirut. The album alternates between instrumentals, short interludes and songs sung by his regular fellow singers, Sami Hawat, Abbas Chahine, and Nabil Qazan, among others, mixing Arabic music with Rahbani's usual blend of jazz-fusion, funk and groove.