Album Description
Media the world over have praised Hossam Ramzy as the "Sultan of Swing" and "Egypt's Ambassador of Rhythm". Here is a collection of Hossam's finest pieces, selected by the great master himself. This is for belly dancers as well as for fans of Egyptian music. This CD is destined to become a favourite with all his fans worldwide!
About the Artist
Born in Cairo, his musical career began early, when at the age of three he was given his first drum an Egyptian tabla. His passion for percussion was noted by his family (many of whom were themselves involved in the arts) who encouraged him to master his craft by studying with the leading music teachers of Egypt. A move to Saudi Arabia introduced Hossam to many of the Bedouin tribes who gave the young Hossam a rich insight into the cultural origins of Middle Eastern music that became the inspiration for many of his later rhythmic directions.
In the mid 1970s he moved to England, and enjoyed great success as a Jazz and Latin style drummer working with many highly respected Jazz musicians like Andy Shepherd and Geoff Williams. But, as he began looking for new dimensions of percussive sounds, he found himself turning full circle back to his first love the Egyptian drums, and the thrilling dance rhythms of the Middle East. The distinctive sound of Hossams percussion and the exciting rhythms on his albums caught the imagination of Peter Gabriel who invited Hossam to perform on his albums PASSION and later US, and recently his latest album which will be released in the near future. Hossam has gone on to work with many top musicians including Joan Armatrading and Mari Wilson. In 1994 Robert Plant and Jimmy Page (ex Led Zeppelin) invited Hossam to bring together a band of Arabian musicians and work on their reunion album No Quarter - Unledded which was awarded triple platinum. This led to Hossam joining Page and P! lant on their historic reunion 1995/96 tour of the world. Ever since, Hossam has been extensively touring with various artists, such as Pino Daniele of Italy as well as many of the top class Arabian Singers like Cheb Khaled, Rashid Taha, Faudel and Yesim Salkim, the most popular female singer from Turkey. To date Hossam has released 15 albums of Egyptian dance and world music, with many of them dedicated to percussion and rhythms of the world.
He has also collaborated on composing and performing many award-winning film sound tracks like: Star Gate, Wings Of A Dove, The Saint, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Stealing Beauty and The Last Temptation Of Christ.
Hossam has most recently performed with Sting on the Michael Parkinson TV Show and he has won the New Age Voice Award for Best Contemporary World Music for his album Immortal Egypt in collaboration with Phil Thornton. He has also recently composed and recorded his latest masterpiece Secrets Of The Eye, which is available now on the ARC label, and he is soon to release a solo percussion album entitled Sabla Tolo - Journeys into pure Egyptian Percussion, also on ARC.