Ferkat Al Ard - Hi'ja (1985) - Side A

Side A: 00:00-6:14 "Al Muad Al Awal" الموعد الأول - First Encounter [Poem by Mahmoud Darwish] 6:19-9:22 "N'aam" نعم - Blessings 9:27-13:12 A'Lombre * 13:19- 17:22 "Tu A'if" طوايف - Sects 17:26-22:38 "Al A'an" الآن - Now Hi'ja is the 3rd Album by Lebanese Band Ferkat Al Ard, recorded at By-Pass Studio in Lebanon. Initially released in 1985, the album was only released on limited runs of cassette. Despite being reissued on CD in 1995 upon band member Elie Saba's arrival to Canada, the Album is still a rare find. HI'JA tracklisting: 1. Al Muad Al Awal الموعد الأول - First Encounter / First Date 2. N'aam نعم - Blessings 3. A'Lombre * 4. Tu A'if طوايف - Sects 5. Al A'an الآن - Now 6. Hi'ja هجاء 7. Hayyala Mahal بحيلّا محل 8. Siwa سوى - But 9. Al Baab الباب - The Door Ferkat Al Ard are: Issam Hajjali - Vocals, Guitar Elia Saba - Oud Toufik Farroukh - Saxophone, Arrangement, Flutes Produced by Bernard Karam. Relatively well known for working Ziad Rahbhani (Houdou Nisbi) and Fairouz. From CD Liner notes: " Thanks to all the musicians who were here and there but always IN. Bold as Love: Riad Gabril, Rafat Haidar, Samir Rafraf, Naji Gibran, Bernard Karam, Monica Assli, Raymond Sabbah. Thanks to Roger Fakhr for existing before and after like an endless source of generosity, intelligence, courage, real music and poetry. Thanks to all Gone: Victor Hawa, Nader Hamzeh, Nia'am Fares. " Originally, Track 7 on Hi'ja was "عم بجامل" , a cover of a Stevie Wonder song. In 1995, on the reissue, Issam Hajali removed it due to fear of Copyright. *