Domestic bliss | An Evening at Home (1976)

 

The newlyweds in March 1976

While writing and posting the first several entries of this project, I learned that Ahmed's wife, Nousa, passed away suddenly on May 16, 2024. Nousa helped guide, shape, and protect Ahmed and his legacy for most of his adult life and her sudden absence casts a shadow long enough to darken even this humble project on the other side of the world.

Upon his return from London in early 1976, Ahmed Adaweya marries Wanisa Ahmed Atef, better known as Nousa. Their relationship is strained almost from the beginning, as Ahmed is often on the road, performing internationally, while Nousa, according to Ahmed Naji's "The Woman Who Devoured Adaweya," suffered his absence so severely, her hair began to fall out. The couple would apparently soon separate, with the initial plan of divorcing, before reuniting for good in 1978.

This gives Ahmed's second cassette of 1976, An Evening at Home, additional resonance, a hint of bittersweetness, if not irony. 

This release recalls in many ways Ahmed's 1975 But Check Out What Adaweya Is Doing, from the cover photo (which is the same) to the general recorded-live-for-an-intimate-audience vibe. Even the structure of both releases are in tune: three tracks on Side A, two on Side B.

Gone, however are the charming if gimmicky cheerleading and aggressive boosterism bits. It's as if, pun intended, Ahmed is genuinely, finally, comfortably, at home with himself. It's as if Nousa has asked: Do that one again, but this time here, with me.

It's an astounding recording, from start to finish. Ahmed is so worked up in some of these performances, he actually peak-pops the mic on more than one occasion. 

The cassette launches into the emotionally gripping "Bint Al Amir" (The Prince's Daughter), which features lyrics by Sayed Qashqoush and music by uber-accordionist Hasan Abo El Soud, who opens the track with some brief but exceptional fingerwork. 

From there we get the short but bracing "Ahla El Ersan," with music by Mohamed Asfour and lyrics from Fadel Abdallah, who later pens tracks for Abdel Baset Hamouda's thoroughly aptly titled kick-ass cassette Crazy Party. (One of the most amazing things I've ever found in the wild: My cassette copy comes from the long-closed and greatly missed Naseem Meat Market & Grocery on Steinway Street here in Queens.)

Another Asfour/Abdallah track, "Habibi Ya Asal," follows. Abdel Baset Hamouda actually covers this one on Crazy Party; you can listen to it here. No shade to Hamouda but, while I heard his version first and will always love it, it's no match for Ahmed's original.

If all of this weren't enough, we're now treated to the 100% Certified Banger "Ella Da Ya Ozal," another Qashqoush/El Soud track that Ahmed so thoroughly rips to shreds, you can't imagine him singing anything after this.

And, in fact, he doesn't The final track, "Dance Music," is an instrumental, featuring heart-stopping qanoun, accordion, and drum solos. It's as smoky as it is folky. More so, even.

Here's Side A

(Listen to "Bint Al Amir")

(Listen to "Ahla El Ersan")

(Listen to "Habibi Ya Asal")

Here's Side B

(Listen to "Ella Da Ya Ozal")

(Listen to "Dance Music")