Abdel Fattah Mansi | Musiqa Jamila b/w Musiqa Bint Albalad (Sono Cairo)

The words "shit-hot qanun" do not appear anywhere in that exact order on the World Wide Web. Which is just as well, as it ensures that they will, presumably, only have ever been applied to this particular recording--that is, once we've posted this blog entry.

Because, dear reader, trust us when we tell you that this humble little 45 RPM single features some shit-hot motherfucking qanun.

Egyptian qanun player Abdel Fattah Mansi was born in 1924 to the oud player Abdel Wahab Mansi; his brother was the violinist Anwar Mansi. Abdel Fattah Mansi toured Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia with Farid Al-Atrash in the 1940s, and settled briefly in Al-Dawha, Palestine, where he served as the Dean of the Institute of Arab Music until 1948. 

Back in Egypt, he recorded a handful of singles, only three of which are cataloged on Discogs, including the entry at hand. None of them are dated.

Did we mention how hot these two tracks are? We feel like we might have alluded, earlier, to their hotness. If not, you might want to listen and decide for yourself.

(Listen to "Musiqa Jamila")

(Listen to "Musiqa Bint Albalad")