Salma El Assal and the Golden Age of Arab Music at the Kennedy Center
Sudanese singer Salma El Assal
Last night I saw two performances at the Kennedy Center — a Sudanese singer named Salma El Assal, billed as “the young Aretha Franklin,” and “Aswat: Celebrating the Golden Age of Arab Music.”
I wish I could tell you about the polyrhythms and the virtuosity of the improvisations. But since I’d never heard music from Sudan, Lebanon, or Egypt before Friday, my observations will be somewhat less than sophisticated. A lot of the experience, for me, was simply being there. Read more
