Arab "World Music" in the US

This article traces the path of Arab music into the US market & compares resulting American perceptions with Arab reality. The hybridization of Eastern music with Western instruments that is typical of "world music" is described, & it is asserted that US listeners are reassured by the cultural patchwork & Western mirroring found in the rai music of Algeria, suggesting that this might lead to improved views of Arabs. Following an examination of the marketing of rai & its clouding of the music's true origins, messages, & applications in Algeria & France, details of the distinctions between "traditional" musicians, including the Ghnawa, the Sufi munshid, & the Master Musicians of Jahjouka, are given. A history of the latter's transformation into the epitomization of offbeat fashion for Western cultural trendsetters & followers is followed by a critical view of the exotic, spiritual, & other misleading spins placed on Arab musicians by promoters, an imagery that the author characterizes as superficial, not necessarily leading to increased comprehension of Arabs, but rather, possibly, to simplified objectification. 2 Photographs. M. C. Leary