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Warda al Jazairia is one
of the greatest singers in the Arab world. She
was born in Paris' Quartier Latin of an Algerian
father, Mohammed Ftouki and a Lebanese mother.
Her father owned a small hotel and restaurant.
This he changed later into a night club for Arabic
oriental music. Warda was the youngest of five
children.
Ever
since she was a little girl, Warda loved music.
She used to sneak out of her room every night
and hide in one of the corners for two or three
hours to listen to the band while they were playing
or rehearsing in her father's night club below
and then she would sing for her self the next
morning. In those days Warda was unable to write
any Arabic, she always had to ask her older brother
to write out all her Arabic songs in the Latin
alphabet. From time to time Warda's father was
tolerant enough to allow his daughter's brief
appearance on a stage of his club at the request
of a friend.
It
was not long before the TAM TAM, her father's
night club ( named after the three initials of
the three Maghreb countries, Tunisia, Algeria,
Morocco ) became the hottest place in Paris for
Arab music and the meeting point for every Arab
star and personality visiting the city.
Ahmad
Tejani, a friend of Warda's father, was working
for a famous record company, Pathè Marconi-EMI
( now EMI France ), which used to produce children's
programs for North African Arabs in France on
the Paris radio station. During one of his visits
to the TAM TAM club he heard her singing and liked
her voice so much that, shortly after, he presented
her to the radio and she participated in the show
with a song called " Song for the Mother ". Warda
was just eleven years old.
Her
father was comitted to supporting some of the
political activities of the FLN ( the Front de
Liberation National, an Algerian organisation
fighting for the independence of Algeria ). Soon
the French authorities learned of her father's
political activities and, in 1956, the whole family
was to be deported. By now her father was 60 and
had nowhere to take his family. Algeria
( which was then still a French colony ) was closed
to him as he was wanted there. The whole family
had nowhere to go but to Lebanon, the country
of his spouse and Warda's mother.
The
whole family lived in a small apartment in Al
Hamra Street in Beirut. When Warda started singing
in Tanyos, a famous night club in Aley, she was
only 17 and her national songs were hardly the
style for night clubs. Warda al Jazaria
became her new name as there was already another
artist of the same name.
On
one of the nights when she was performing an attentive
listener and connoisseur was in the audience.
The presence of this person was to have a profound
influence on Warda's career. His name was Mohamed
Abdul Wahab.
At
the end of her performance he approached her and
proposed that he compose for her, such a proposal
she could not refuse. He was to become, throughout
her career, her " godfather ". His extremely demanding,
almost tyrannical, working methods would change
her forever. For the " Oustaz " ( The Master )
the only price of glory was hard work and dedication,
and this was a challenge for Warda for she had
to learn how to write Arabic and to erase her
Algerian accent.
Warda's
greatest dream was to go to Cairo - the capital
of Arab art - however at that time she knew nobody
in the Egyptian capital. In 1959, in Syria, the
great composer, Riad al Soumbati heard her performing
a nationalistic song called " Koulouna Jamila
" and was seduced by her voice. He decided to
invite her to Cairo where he was to compose many
songs for her among them " Loubat el Ayyam " and
" Nida el Dhamir ". In 1962 the Egyptian President,
Gamal Abdel Nasser asked that she participate,
as the representative of Algeria, in a song for
the Arab world called " Al Watan Al Akbar
". This song was composed by Mohamed Abdel Wahab
and Warda had the chance to appear alongside other
famous singers such as Abdel Halim Hafez, Sabah,
Fayza Ahmed, Najat al Sagheera and Shadya.
By
now Warda was becoming famous and she had the
chance to evolve in an environment rich in talent
like Oum Kalsoum, Farid el Atrache, Abdel Halim
Hafez to mention but a few. Her " Parisian " elegance
and the " Andalous " connotations in her
voice were much appreciated. Her style, which
at the time differed from the then " required
" rigid style for Arab performers, opened for
her a new avenue. The film director Helmy Rafla
heard Warda and put her forward for a major role
in his film " Almaz Wa Abdu Al Hamoly ". For this
film both Mohamed Abdel Wahab and Farid el Atrache
were to compose her songs.
In
1962, Algeria became independant. In 1963, she
flew there to marry a former high ranking officer
in the National Liberation Army ( ALN ) she had
met during her stay in Lebanon. Warda's career
ceased and for a decade she became a housewife.
But
in 1972, Houari Boumedienne, the President of
Algeria, asked her to participate in the celebration
of the 10th Aniversary of the Independence. That
was the beginning of her comeback to the stage,
and a painful divorce.
That
same yearsaw her return to Egypt and she began
working with the most famous composers of the
time, Riad al Soumbati, Baligh Hamdi ( whom
she was later to marry and who was to compose
so many of her successful songs during ten years
), Kamal al Tawel, Said Mekkawi and of course,
the " Oustaz " Mohamed Abdel Wahab. and she returned
too to the big screen with three films with actors
Rochdy Abaza, Adel Adham, Youcef Chaaban and Hassan
Youcef.
In
recent years she has worked particularly closely
with the composer Salah el Sharnoubi , the lyricist
Omar Batiesha, the musician Tarek Akef and producer
Mohsen Gaber, an association which led to three
of her albums receiving the award of " Best Album
of the Year " in 1991, 1992 and 1994. With more
than 300 carefully chosen songs and with concerts
booked all over the world, Warda, with her magical
voice and superb talent, continues to carry her
message around the globe.
The
candle that Warda burns brings pleasure to millions.
Those millions of fans, across the whole Arab
world, always looked forward to her songss, either
the long romantic love songs that carry her listeners
into an atmosphere of dreams, or the lighter songs
that make everyone want to get up and dance and
be happy.
Warda
al Jazairia - The Rose of Algeria - has always
brought joy and pleasure, through her art and
her voice, to her many fans and admirers across
the Arab world and beyond. We hope she may long
continue to do so. Her career lies in the tradition
of the very greatest exponents of Arab song.
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