Issam Hajali

Issam Hajali is a Lebanese jazz and folk rock musician.

In 1975, when the civil war in Lebanon started, he was a guitarist of a progressive rock band Rainbow Bridge in Beirut. In 1976 Hajali, who was politically ultra-left, fled Lebanon with his wife, first to Cyprus, and then to Paris, where he stayed in 1977, before going back to Beirut. In his last week in Paris, Hajali, together with Roger Fahr, another Lebanese musician, and a number of musicians from various countries, whose names were eventually lost, recorded his debut album, Mouasalt Ila Jacad El Ard.[1][2][3] The record combined santur with the Western-style music with vocals, jazz guitars, and synthesizers. The texts were taken from Lebanese revolutionary poet Samih al-Qasim. The album was not properly released at the time and circulated on tapes, with estimated 100 copies. In Beirut, it came to an attention of musician Ziad Rahbani who popularized it. In 2019, the record was re-released by Habibi Funk.[1][4] One of the compositions, Ana Damir El Motakallim, has been compared with Stairway to Heaven and described as innovative in Lebanese music.[3]

Back in Beirut in 1977, Hajali founded the band Ferkat Al Ard, which eventually recorded three albums.[2][3]

In 1980, Hajali left political activism and eventually graduated with master degree in philosophy. He remarried and had children. As of 2019, he was running a jewelry shop in Beirut, was not performing, and his income was coming from selling his past compositions.[2]

Albums
  • Mouasalt Ila Jacad El Ard (1977)
  • Oghneya (1979)

References
  1. J. Simpson (28 February 2020). "Issam Hajali – Mouasalat Ila Jacad El Ard". FREQ.
  2. West, Michael J. (18 November 2019). "Issam Hajali's Arabic Jazz LP Was Written Against the Backdrop of Civil War". bandcamp.
  3. Stisi (25 October 2019). "Issam Hajali : le folk oublié d'un génie libanais en exil". Bastien (in French). Nova.
  4. Frahm, Jonathan (7 November 2019). "Habibi Funk Previews Their Reissue of Issam Hajali's Early Work with "Intazirne" (premiere)". popmatters.
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