Despite its misleading title--London-based percussionist Hossam Ramzy here borrows beats from almost every Middle Eastern style except Algerian pop music--Egyptian Rai is a fascinating blend of Arab melodies filtered through Egyptian film-music orchestration. Call it syncretic belly-dance music for intellectuals. The nine instrumentals here borrow from such disparate sources as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Morocco, offering, as the bandleader (whose collaborators have included Peter Gabriel, Loreena McKennitt, and Robert Plant and Jimmy Page) puts it, an eagle's-eye view of the Arab world. Ramzy and ensemble approach the source material as improvisers, blending quarter-tone accordion, ney flute, strings, horns, and, of course, a variety of drums into a jangly, pulsing party. The only clunker is "The Star Collector," a bland can of Egyptian New Age. --Richard Gehr
Egyptian Rai,Hossam Ramzy,Egyptian Ensemble,Arc Music,Arabic,Belly Dancing,Egypt,Egyptian,Int'l & World Music,Middle East,Pop,Traditional Middle Eastern Folk,World Fusion,World Music
New Age Music:
- El Poder de la Raiz [Import]
- Fica de Bem Comigo [Import]
- Flamenco Rumba Gitana
- Folk and Jazzy [Import]
- For You Only
- Forro Dobrado: Pe de Serra [Import]
- Forro Pra Levantar Poeira [Import]
- Fragmentos De Música Livre E Espontânea [Import]
- Guardianes del Angel [Import]
- Guzzi [Import]
New Age Music
Clubland X-Treme, Vol. 2 [Import]
Changes in Latitudes Changes in Attitudes
Compilation for Reach for the Rainbow [Import]