Following the reissue last year (2019) of Fairuz's classic 1979 album Wahdon, Wewantsounds pursue their exploration of great Lebanese music with the reissue of Fairuz's highly sought-after LP Maarifti Feek, released in 1987. Recorded in Beirut around 1983-84, the album features the Diva's superb voice combined with Ziad Rahbani's jazz and funk orchestration, making it one of the most in-demand albums on the Arabic funk scene...

If you look on Amazon at present, CDs of this album (from its previous release) are on offer for over £150. While Maarifti Feek is a good album... it's not that good. In fact I can't think of a single LP that I would pay that much to own... but each to their own.

If you're not overly familiar with Fairuz's output - and it's not overly important that you are in order to enjoy this release - all you really need to know is that she was perhaps the most renowned Diva in the Arabic world during the '60s and '70s.

This vinyl reissue of Fairuz's apparently much coveted album was, at the time, a groundbreaking mix of influences ranging from the traditional arrangements of 'Oudak Rannan' and 'Ma Kdirt Nseet' to the Brazilian flavour of 'Version 1' via the synth funk of 'Ouverture 83' and its follow up 'Reprise 83'. Also featured on the album is a beautiful remake of Joaquin Rodrigo's 'Concerto de Aranjuez' in the form of a tribute to the lebanese capital, 'Li Beirut.'

This blend of Oriental grooves with jazz and funk orchestrations by Ziad Rahbani is a unique document of Fairuz's career development in the '80s and explains why Maarifti Feek is such a sought after album on the DJ and collector circuits.

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Nick Smithson