The musketeers in question come from another time and place than the mid-19th-century French novel. Their heyday was the 1930s and '40s, and collectively, they represent a golden age of Egyptian music.

The problem is that even aficionados of their music often don't know their names, only that of the celebrated Egyptian singer, Umm Kulthum (1904-1975), who made their music famous.

"People will listen and say, 'That's an Umm Kalthoum song,' but Umm Kulthum never composed a single song,' said Moroccan-born Hicham Chami, a virtuoso on the plucked string instrument called the qanum and founder of the Chicago Classical Oriental Ensemble, which brings together mostly young professional musicians of Arab heritage from a number of U.S. cities. (The group recently changed its name to the Arabesque Music Ensemble, but this concert is still being marketed under the old moniker.)

Chami and his fellow members in the group set out to give praise where praise was due, with a recording of "The Music of the Three Musketeers' (Xauen Music) that honors the contributions of Zakariyya Ahmad (1896-1961), Muhammad al-Qasabji (1892-1966) and Riyad al-Sunbati (1906-1982).

Friday, with three vocalists, the group - Chami, legendary percussionist Michel Merhej Baklouk, cellist Kinan Abou-Afash, oud player Kalid Zairi and violinist Hanna Khoury - brings music from the Three Musketeers to a debut at Rackham Auditorium under University Musical Society auspices.

One of the vocalists with them on tour (in addition to Dima Orsho and Aboud Agha) is the 75-year-old male vocalist Youssef Kassab, who is heard on the CD and who played a critical role in the recording.

It's not for nothing that the members of the group, professional musicians in their 20s and 30s, accord Kassab the honorific of "ustaz' or professor.

When Kassab arrived in Chicago for the mix and mastering of the recording, he sat in silence as Chami and Khoury played for him what they had laid down.

"It's wonderful, fantastically performed,' Chami recalled Kassab saying. "But it is terrible. It does not sound traditional at all.'

It was back to the drawing board. "We redid everything,' said Chami, "we rerecorded every note.' It was frustrating and challenging, Chami said, but also very rewarding.

"I think he was right,' said Chami. "I listen to the recordings we had before,' which won wide praise in world-music circles, "and we're talking about two neatly played, well-recorded performances. This is different. Youssef is by no means this diva performer, but the title 'professor' is one he should be carrying.'

-- by Susan Isaacs-Nisbett