Modern Bellydance From Lebanon: Sunset Princess in Bloomington, MN

There is a booming industry in
belly dancing
music. Much of it is of questionable authenticity, but it can still be fun. The industry is not supported by men eager to watch
, but rather by women who practice
for its spiritual and physical benefits. Lebanon's
Emad Sayyah
is a one-man
belly dance
music factory. On this disc, which is at least his fifth from
ARC
, he writes and arranges all the music, plays all the instruments except percussion, and sings. Although the percussion, ably served up by
Abdo Manssour
, is played on traditional instruments and uses mostly traditional rhythms, the music and other instruments can best be described as ersatz. This quality is most apparent on
"Jibaal Wa Widyaan (Mountains and Valleys),"
which sounds like music you'd hear on the calliope at the circus.
Sayyah
makes use of Western instruments like the saxophone, violin, and (gasp!) synthesizer. He avoids the quarter-tone scales typical of
Middle-Eastern
music. Also, he often uses melodic structures more typical of Western music; actually, what he usually presents is a Western-friendly stereotype of
Arabic
music, something like what you'd expect to hear in a cartoon of
Bugs Bunny
visiting the Casbah. But it's pointless to criticize musicians like
: What people want from him is a good rhythms and a
"feel," and these he provides. ~ Kurt Keefner