RE-ISSUE DATE: APR 2025

Saleh (1908–1986) and Daoud (1910–1976) Al‑Kuwaity (Arabic: صالح وداوود الكويتي; born as Saleh and Daoud Ezra) were Jewish-Iraqi singers and musicians—among the most important and successful in Iraq during the first half of the 20th century—and founders of modern Iraqi music.

Iraqi Jews produced a disproportionately large number of gifted musicians

Saleh Al‑Kuwaity was primarily a composer, singer, and violinist, and his brother Daoud Al‑Kuwaity was a singer and oud player. The Al‑Kuwaity brothers were part of the Jewish musicians who contributed to the flourishing of a new musical style in Iraq in the first half of the 20th century. The vibrant musical activity among Iraqi Jews—especially in Baghdad—touched both public and private life, sacred and secular domains, in singing and instrumental performance. Relative to the size and influence of their community, Iraqi Jews produced a disproportionately large number of gifted musicians. Saleh Al‑Kuwaity, honored as the father of Iraqi music, was the first to create songs based on the Iraqi maqam, the classical Arab musical genre

The Brothers were replaced in schoolbooks and public consciousness

Despite their widespread popularity and contributions, the legacy of the Kuwaiti Brothers was deliberately suppressed under Saddam Hussein’s Ba'athist regime. During Saddam’s rule, state media and official histories often omitted or downplayed the role of Jewish artists in Iraq’s musical and cultural heritage. The brothers were replaced in schoolbooks and public consciousness by later artists more aligned with the nationalistic narrative Saddam wished to promote.

This erasure was part of a broader policy of cultural revisionism, aimed at reinforcing an Arab-Muslim identity that excluded ethnic and religious minorities—particularly Jews. As a result, the Kuwaiti Brothers, who once played an integral role in shaping Iraqi music, were nearly forgotten by new generations, both in Iraq and the Arab world at large.

Only in recent years has there been a growing effort to restore their memory and give them the credit they deserve as foundational figures in Iraqi and regional music history.

The Farhud was a pogrom carried out against the Jewish population of Baghdad, Iraq, on 1–2 June 1941

TRACK LIST

walla ajabni jamalakArtist Name

00:00 / 06:22

BUY

The Zumurrud Khatun Mosque and Mausoleum, also known as the Tomb of Sitta Zubayda, is a historic mosque and shrine located in Baghdad, Iraq. Dating back to the Abbasid era, it stands within the Sheikh Ma'ruf Cemetery on the Karkh side of the city. The complex was built under the patronage of Zumurrud Khatun and her son. Zumurrud Khatun was the wife of the 33rd Abbasid caliph, al-Mustadi (r. 1170–1180), and the mother of Caliph al-Nasir (r. 1180–1225). Before her death, she collected waqf funds from various madrasas and commissioned the construction of her own mausoleum in Karkh.

Emerging from the golden age of 20th-century Iraqi music, the al-Kuwaiti Brothers embodied the rich, multi-ethnic soundscape of Baghdad, where Jewish, Muslim, and Christian communities coexisted and contributed to a vibrant musical tradition. The cover draws inspiration from the historical elegance of Baghdadi design—echoing the layered muqarnas domes, carved calligraphy, and urban textures of Karkh and Rusafa—invoking the spirit of a city that once pulsed with artistic and intellectual exchange. Just as the Zumurrud Khatun Mosque stands as a testament to Baghdad’s layered history, this visual tribute reclaims and re-contextualizes a forgotten chapter in the city’s musical memory, giving voice and form to a legacy long silenced and muted.

RELEASE
NO.06

BROTHERS EL QUWAITY