ATMuse> The Music of Multicultural America
 
from "The Music of Arab Detroit: A Musical Mecca in the Midwest." by Anne K. Rasmussen, pg. 109-136
In The Music of Multicultural America 
Edited by Kip Lornell and Anne K. Rasmussen
 

1994, Detroit Area. Afrah al-Yemen. Abd al-Nur, vocals and ‘ud; Salah Najar-darabukkah; and Mufadal Yaswer-bongos.

A brief excerpt of the Yemeni American group Afrah al-Yemen performing at a wedding during the summer of 1994. Group members include ‘Abd al-Nur, vocals and ‘ud and Salah Najar and Mufadal Yaswer, percussion (darabukkah and bongos). The Yemeni repretoire and style of Afrah al-Yemen are among the most distinctive in Arab Detroit. Listen for the unique timbre of the singer’s voice and the way it is intertwined with the ‘ud line which both supports the vocal line and provides musical interludes between lines of text.

Three musicians sit on a dais at a wedding in a large banquet hall.
Afrah al-Yemen perform on the “men’s side” of the banquet hall for a wedding party. The videographers in the foreground capture the action.

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