great percussion and rhythm...i dunno...i haven't begun learning bellydance yet, but the musicians are awesome, and the dance troupe is great aswell. wish i lived in portland oregon.

Hossam Ramzy is a percussionist from Egypt, who has featured on a wealth of albums and who has contributed tremendously to the world of bellydance.

 

In this album, Hossam Ramzy takes a bird's eye view of the RAI movement, using songs from all over the Arab world. The word Rai means "Opinion" and, musically, it expresses feelings of the younger generation, who will rarely express emotions in "normal" day to day life.

 

RAI originated in Algeria, but has gained momentum throughout the Middle East and is now popular worldwide.

 

For more details, go to:
http://www.arcmusic.co.uk
and browse the catalogue of albums for:
EUCD1132 HOSSAM RAMZY - Egyptian Rai

 

This is an excellent classical-style bellydance CD - each number has many different rhythms, modes and drum-solos, offering plenty of variation for the intermediate to advanced dancer, while the beginning bellydancers will be able to find shorter pieces they can clip out to start out a dance for themselves. The CD just invites bellydancers at all levels to do something with it.

 

A great asset in this respect is the booklet accompanying the CD, which contains seuqences of the rhythms of the first five songs in English, German and Spanish. This is an invaluable aid in choreography and in analysis of the drum sequences. Song 6 just has an explanation, while the sequences of the rhythms of songs 7 and 8 have been omitted, but you can find them in Hossam Ramzy's album "Sabla Tolo".

 

The booklet further contains the lyrics of song 3 in Egyptian and English. This could be an added feature to a dance - dancers could learn the lyrics by heart and sing along in two groups, one group reaching out to and responding to the other. The booklet contains an English, German and Spanish version.

 

It is a great album, especially if you like traditional Egyptian instruments used in combination or alternated with either violin and cello or with trumpet, accordion and keyboards. For the drum-lovers such as me, there are also two great numbers taken from Hossam Ramzy's greatest drum album ever, "Sabla Tolo".

 

For more details on this and Hossam Ramzy's other albums and to hear audio samples, go to:
http://www.arcmusic.co.uk
and browse the catalogue of albums for:
EUCD 1614 - Faddah - by Hossam Ramzy

 

Legends of Gypsy Flamenco II is a fantastic album. It's a compilation of music by most of the big names in the Flamenco music world.

 

The album contains no less than 18 tracks, it is true value for money for musicians, dancers and anybody interested in the great art of Flamenco. The booklet contains background information on all the guitarists and cantaores (singers), most of who have a gypsy origin.
 
For more details on this album, to hear samples and to order, go to:
http://www.arcmusic.co.uk
and browse the catalogue of albums for:
EUCD1749 - Legends of Gypsy Flamenco II

 

Mali by Seckou Keita is a wonderful album of traditional African music. It will appeal especially to everyone who loves the kora, as Keita is such a great kora player. Furthermore, Keita has a beuatiful, melodious voice and is a great drummer, and he combines all his skills on this album to create a pleasant, friendly atmosphere that makes this album a great asset in the collection of everyone interested in traditional African music.

 

The beautiful singing of Keita is almost secondary to his drumming in track #6, Foune, which is a drumming masterpiece. The kora dominates most other tracks, but the more you listen to the album, the more instruments you will recognize.

 

Mali by Seckou Keita will be listened to closely by everyone who loves the kora, but the album is also great for relaxation, restarting and refreshing the mind, both when you listen closely and when you hear the music at the background.

 

The following information was provided as the press release of "Mali":

 

DESCENDANT OF THE MALI “KEITA” KINGS

 

February 2003 sees the official worldwide release of the album “Mali” by acclaimed kora player Seckou Keita.

 

Seckou Keita, a descendant of the Keita family of kings from Mali, is a multi-talented artist playing kora, drums and percussion.

 

He already has a respected career in world music having performed alongside African stars Cheikh Lô and Papa Wemba and having been nominated for the BBC “World Music Award” 2001.

 

As a member of the original Celtic/African crossover group Baka Beyond, and as a solo artist, he has performed all over Europe (Czech Republic, Spain, France, Portugal, Greece and the UK) and at numerous world famous festivals such as WOMAD, Glastonbury (England), the Edinburgh Festival, Sacred Music Festival (Ireland), Suoni Di Mundi (Italy) and Epicuriales (France).

 

He also performed at the Global Music Festival in India where he played alongside Dr. L. Subramaniam, an internationally renowned violinist and composer.

 

His reputation and talent have made him an indispensable element of most African festivals such as Drum Camp, Ace and Tribe of Doris. He is also greatly in demand for other events such as first night openings of musicals, which he has done for the “Lion King” in Covent Garden, London.

 

“Mali”, his debut release for ARC, is a joyous and masterful recording with Seckou’s rich voice intertwining with his kora which in turn fuses with violin, whistle, mandolin, bass, banjo, guitar, drums and traditional African percussion.

“His personality, … his brilliance on the … half-guitar, half-harp contraption known as kora, could fill the Albert Hall.” - Rhythm

 

This album features features the indredible qanum player Professor Maged Serour, who has collaborated with almost all of Hossam Ramzy's previous productions since the early 1990s. In this album, Maged Serour looked after every note recorded and every feeling expressed.

 

The qanum is a string instrument similar to a small piano. Imagine an open grand piano that is played by playing the strings directly, rather than by striking keys.

It's a beautiful classical style bellydance CD - all bellydancers will find numbers that suit them, as the music puts you in the right mood for dancing, it's as though the music takes over your thoughts and you can just float on the wonderful rhythm of the easily dancible music.

 

The more you listen to the album, the more you love it! Not only for dancing or drumming, but for sheer listening pleasure this is excellent music. The booklet contains descriptions of the pieces and the qanun in English, German, French and Spanish.

 

For more details, go to:
http://www.arcmusic.co.uk
and browse the catalogue of albums for:
EUCD 1697 - Qanum el Tarab - by Hossam Ramzy & Maged Serour

 

I like Sahara Groove very much, it has some wonderful examples of Rai music and north african music - very suitable for dancing. I especially like #7 by Mostafa Sax, #8 by Ali Hassan Kuban, #9 by Cheika Rimitti and #11by Rhany.  

 

I immediately made a choreography on track #11, Dik Alila, by Rhany, a Moroccan song, a spicy mixture of Arab/Eastern rhythms with a touch of Salsa, which has his origins in his love for Cuban music. It's such a cheerful Arab/Latin song that you just cannot sit still anymore! 

 

Sahara Groove is a masterful recording of one of the greatest voices in World Music - the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and the enchanting Sahara Groove -  an exotic release featuring the biggest stars from Arabian and North African Music -  Hossam Ramzy, Cheika Rimitti, Ali Hassan Kuban, Mostafa Sax, Sidi Mimoun Band, Cheb Tarik, Rhany, Sahraoui, Rasha, Samy El Bably and Nour-Eddine.

Excellent album, with some of the best music I've heard for a long time.
 
For more details, go to:
http://www.arcmusic.co.uk
and browse the catalogue of albums for:
EUCD1732 - Sahara Groove

The Hossam Ramzy Egyptian Ensemble comprises some of Egypt’s most virtuoso soloists. Personally, I love tracks nr. 1 and nr. 4.

 

The album combines emotional and heartfelt melodies with beautiful, enchanting, slower type of bellydance music, which is excellent for the more accomplished bellydancers who will need all their skills to match the hypnotic and esoteric sound of this album.

 

With 'Source of Fire" Hossam Ramzy has lived up to his high standard of capturing the exotic flavour of ethnic dance and world music.

For more details, go to:
http://www.arcmusic.co.uk
and browse the catalogue of albums for:
EUCD1305 HOSSAM RAMZY - Source of Fire

Nour-Eddine presents music inspired by and close to the musical tradition of the Berbers of the Rif mountains in the north of Morocco.

 

When listening to this spiritual and powerful music, you can imagine yourself sitting among the Berbers in the mountains, looking down on the vast arid plains. This is the closest thing to thre Berber world you might ever get, apart from going there.

 

The Music Of Morocco is the best traditional CD I've heard so far, with all the ingredients of almost hypnotic rhythms, ritualistic percussion and call-and-response singing. Yet, it is still not too traditional for most of us city-dwellers.

 

Traditional instruments are used such as the oud (lute), darbouka (drum), djembe (drum), saghat (finger zymbals), ghaita (oboe) and many others. The two bonus dancetracks nr. 11 and 12 (remixes) show us that traditional and modern music, using computers and keyboards, can easily be fused and one type of music can inspire the other.

 

For more details, go to:
http://www.arcmusic.co.uk
and browse the catalogue of albums for the artist:
Nour Eddine

 

The Anadolu University Folk Dance Ensemble was founded in 1975 to research, perform and teach music and dance. They've performed around the world, wearing beautiful traditional costumes. I particularly like the track Ciftetelli, which means belly dance music. The instruments used on this track are zils, darbuka, clarinet, accordion, baglama and kaval.

 

Something more about their intruments:

 

Baglama - a long-mecked lute with a pear-shaped body, usually with three courses of strings played with a plectrum. Depending on the length of the string, it's also known as cura or saz.

 

Darbuka - single-headed goblet-shaped drum held under the arm. Also called darabuka. In Egypt it's called a tabla.

 

Davul - large double-headed cylindrical bass drum. The thicker head is beaten with a mallet, producing a deeper sound, and the thinner head is beaten with a lighter wand.

 

Doli - double-headed cylindrical drum, held under the armpit. Also called Koltuk davulu.

 

Kasik - wooden spoons, struck together in pairs.

 

Kaval - end-blown flurte similar to the nay in the arab world. It can have five or more finger-holes and one thumb-hole. 

 

Ney - a rim-blown flute with six finger-holes in front and one at the back.

 

Zils - finger cymbals, fixed to the thumb and the middle finger. Often used in pairs, one pair for each hand.

 

Zurna - a folk oboe, a conocal wooden tube of about 30 to 45 cm long, with double reed.
 

For more details go to:
http://www.arcmusic.co.uk/

Dalinda's debut album "Turqoise" was recorded at various places in the world, and the music crosses borders in a similar way to Natasha Atlas.

 

From the moment I put this CD into the CD-player, I fell in love with it and every time I play the CD again, I love it more! Dalinda is, much like Natasha Atlas, the perfect combination of East and West. The rhythms of her songs are fantastic, not surprising since Hossam Ramzy is behind the riveting percussion. It's almost impossible not to start dancing to the music.

 

A double bonus is the glossy booklet with lyrics, both in Arabic and in English for each song. That's a delight for anyone interested in languages and it's great for anyone who is interested in following the lyrics, but who is unfamiliar with Arabic.

 

Dalinda's album will definitily appeal to the younger generation, as well as to everyone who has become interested in bellydancing through Shakira. And there's so much to find on the album for even the most seasoned bellydancer. I just had to make a choreography on Yeslam Galbak and the music is so inspiring that within an hour I had a completely new dance added to my repertoire.

 

I play the album every day because I just love it! Highly recommended!

 

For more details about Dalinda's Turquoise, to hear a RealAudio clip and to order, go to:
http://www.arcmusic.co.uk/english/e4.html
If not there, search under Index by artist, then Hossam Ramzy, at:
http://www.arcmusic.co.uk