Good Egyptian Music

topic posted Sun, July 26, 2009 - 1:51 PM by  Nefabit
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Hi everyone!
I would like your recommendations for good Classical Egyptian and Egyptian Pop music. I've recently gotten a gig at a restaurant and this is the general style that the owner likes. Nothing too Americanized or hip-hoppey. I would like to have a nice collection of music to rotate, so any suggestions would be great. ^_^
Thanks in advance,

Nefabit
posted by:
Nefabit
Washington
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  • Re: Good Egyptian Music

    Sun, July 26, 2009 - 4:34 PM
    Hi Nefabit,
    Great question...and also great to note that it's good to find out what "the boss" likes. :) If the owner likes Egyptian, the owner (the guy with the money) likes Egyptian.
    One really useful compilation would be Very Belly Belly Dance. www.amazon.com/Very-Belly.../ref=sr_1_1
    Other Artists/producers with good stuff for you: Jalilah Raqs sharki series, Yasmin's music and Horatio and Beata's music (especially after vol 8). Jelilah and Yasmin are available on Amazon.
    Yasmin's come with 30plus page booklets- which make it worth while to buy the CD. www.serpentine.org/yasmin/M...ptian.htm
    Jalilah's are available for download (instant gratification!) www.amazon.com/Jalilah/e/...mus_gen_pel
    Horatio and Beata's are available from Tatikastreasures.com I've bought from the numerous times and it's always a pleasant experience with speedy delivery.
    For pop- it depends- Egyptian I like Hamada Helal, Saad el Soghayer a lot for that Egyptian Sha'abi sound. For more pop- Lebanese pop is really common to use- Nancy Ajram, Rola etc.
    They're available on maqam.com (include listening clips) and some also at rashid.com
  • Re: Good Egyptian Music

    Mon, August 17, 2009 - 11:15 PM
    I agree with Samira's recommendations of Jalilah's "Raqs Sharqi" series and Beata & Horacio's "Oriental Fantasy" series.

    There's also Leyla Lanty's Golden Days, Enchanting Nights CD. See www.leylalanty.com/CDDVD.html

    And Bahaia in Texas has produced "Ya Bahaia" which you can get from Amazon.

    Nourhan and Yousry Sherif's "Wash Ya Wash" series of CD's is good.

    Hollywood Music Center sells some CD's by Cairo Orchestra that I like.
    • Re: Good Egyptian Music

      Wed, August 19, 2009 - 6:58 AM
      I have to second those recommendations. There are a few orchestras that are my favorite, and I would look for full cd's or compilations they are on. Shira already mentioned they Cairo Orchestra, and they have a great Tribute to Om Khalthoum cd. The Sami Nossair Orchestra and Al Ahlam Orchestra are really good too. Leila of Cairo has a couple of cd's out that are really good, and have some harder to find Egyptian peices. Sukara is great from start to finnish. Helwa has a couple of good numbers, but the recording sounds really raw at times, kind of like someone was at a really loud live show and was standing around with a microphone. But it does have my favorite version of Ganal Hawa, and it seems to go over very well with Arab audiences in general, and Egyptian audiences in particular.
      • Re: Good Egyptian Music

        Thu, August 20, 2009 - 4:52 AM
        You can't go wrong with anything by Abdel Halim Hafiz, songs such as Neptidi Mneim El Hikaya, Gana El Hawa, Sawah, Zay El Hewa, Kariat El Finjan etc.
      • Re: Good Egyptian Music

        Thu, August 20, 2009 - 4:56 AM
        You can't go wrong with anything by Abdel Halim Hafiz, songs such as Neptidi Mneim El Hikaya, Gana El Hawa, Sawah, Zay El Hewa, Kariat El Finjan etc.
        • Re: Good Egyptian Music

          Thu, August 27, 2009 - 3:02 PM
          Ya Abdel Halim and Abdel Wahab are the ones you should definitely get collections from.
          I have a cd by Randa Kamal which is really really nice Egyptian style, and also Leila's dvds are top notch.

          What I was thinking when reading your question and the answers - is the "rotation cd" for getting the audience up to dance, for having it running in the background, or for your performance specficially?
          If he wants to use the music for easy listening too you might want to ask him if he prefers music with vocals.. most of the bellydance recordings from jamila and Wash ya Wash have very limited vocals. That took me personally quite some time to get used to..
          I love Randa's cd for featuring sung lyrics..

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