Ahlamy

This album is a mixture of fabulous old-time classics, folkloric and baladi pieces, as well as new compositions by Rafat Misso who is a master of the saxophone from Cairo. The focus on the saxophone on this album is fascinating. Originally a Western instrument, the saxophone was transformed into a quarter-toned instrument and blends in beautifully with the more traditional Middle Eastern instruments. This album is useful for all dancers, teachers and students who are interested in exploring the art of musical interpretation, the focus on the saxophone really allows you to study the music to help you become more at one with your music while dancing.

The first track on the album is the very famous and ever popular "Sallam Allay". I love the way this song has been arranged; the mizmar and the saxophone interact wonderfully together, which gives this strong Saidi track a smooth and fascinating twist, while still retaining the tracks playful sound. Rafat Misso composed "El Sama Billeyal". It has a beautiful melodic introduction, followed by a traditional Ashara Baladi style which begins with the with a long and perfect saxophone improvisation that will help you attune to those flowing figures of eights, undulations and hip circles. This song has an interesting twist in that the accordion takes over halfway through to finish things off beautifully. "Ala Rimsh Oyounha Abilt Hawa" is an upbeat piece with some very interesting question and answer sections between the nay and the saxophone. This piece is would be great to choreograph, as the instrumentation is excellently well structured, and it would make a fantastic first performance piece for beginners who could really use this piece of music to its full potential.

"Ya Tamra Henna" is a very famous song from the 50's black and white classic Egyptian film "Tamra Henna (which translates as Henna Flower). If you can, I'd recommend getting "The Stars of Egypt" series videos 1 & 2 in which you'll see the late and very much missed dancer Naima Akef dancing in clips from the original film. Doing so will enhance your understanding of musical interpretation in the most incredible way. Naima was absolutely amazing and a true artist. Sadly she died of cancer in her early 30's which was a tragic loss to the world of Middle Eastern dance. She was a source of great inspiration to the legendary dancer Nagwa Fouad who said, "Naima moved like magic". The song from the film on this track would again make the most amazing performance piece, along with the saxophone there is also some wonderful quanoon instrumentation and plenty of rhythmic changes, which allow this track to also be used as a teaching track to help students learn to change pace with the flow of the music and to learn how to dance both fast and slowly to the saxophone. "El Hanim" is another traditional Ashara Baladi piece, this time with a more traditional style introduction using the saxophone, changing over seamlessly to the accordion mid-section before moving into a short funky little tabla solo at the end. This song is superb to use both in performance and to teach or learn the art of dancing, baladi style.

Suad Mohamed originally sang "Lamma Ramatna El Eyin". This track only has a few rhythmic changes and the saxophone, mizmar, and lazmar (whole orchestra) phrases are very clearly defined, so this piece would make a great performance piece for intermediates looking to work with their skills at interpreting various musical instruments over the top of some rhythms without things getting too complicated. "El Shouma" is a stick dance with a difference; it's a baladi style improvisation with a strong Saidi feel - this is a great piece for intermediates and advanced to really show off their stick work! It has the masculine feel, so if you have strong stick work skills, this is the track for you! "El Baladi Youkal" starts off with a fantastic saxophone solo; this is a fairly fast paced, and very joyful piece. This would make an excellent baladi performance piece for advanced dancers - it will give them something to really work with to make a really polished piece of baladi to dazzle their audiences with.

The saxophone gives the entire album a very sensuous feel. This album is excellent for teachers and students looking to work with baladi music that's something different from the rest. Highly recommended!