Oriental Dance from Lebanon

Album Review

Emad Sayyah, a Lebanese performer based in Vienna, has previously released a handful of similar albums of belly dancing music in its various forms. That said, though, this album gives him the opportunity to spend a little more time updating the sound with some more contemporary musical motives as well as instrumentation. Luckily, he resisted the temptation to include electronic aspects in the music, instead bringing accordion, guitars, and a Turkish saz into the proceedings. The various instrumentalists are quite capable of the bouncing, lilting rhythms throughout, with special luminance on the part of the darbouka and qanun players. In truth, the average belly dancing albums are a dime a dozen. This one, though, has something additional to offer in its experimental nature — something beyond the usual fare. For that alone, but also for the nice execution, give this one a spin.