CD REVIEW: BELLYLICIOUS RAKS
As Reviewed by: Princess Farhana
This great CD lives up to it’s name- it’s definitely “Bellylicious”! The project was conceived and produced by Aleya, the Los Angeles-based dancer who appears on the cover. By the time you read this, she will have already re-located t Cairo, where she hopes to build a career.
The way this CD came about was simple: Aleya had already spent quite a lot of time in the Middle East (Egypt and Lebanon specifically) and after experiencing Arabic music played live by professional musicians on a nightly basis, she had grown tired of the Western-influenced, over-synthesized, soul-free music on the market today. As a result, she brainstormed this project, with professional Oriental Dance performers in mind. Some of the music on this CD was recorded in Lebanon, and some in Los Angeles- but all of it is authentic, textured with dynamic live percussion and beautiful instrumentation. There’s an amazing rendition of Om Kalthoum’s Oriental classic “Ya Msaharne” and great versions of “Zay El Hawa” and “Ganal Hawa”, all of which are timed perfectly for restaurant work, private parties or even use in competitions. One of my personal favorite tracks is the driving opening song, “Hassan”.
The musical arrangements are fabulous, done by acclaimed Lebanese percussionist Ziad Islambouli and keyboardist/accordion player Fayez Deryan, and the whole thing is a great mix of traditional Middle Eastern favorites and new modern pieces.
Islambouli is somewhat of a legend in Los Angeles, having played at the upscale Byblos Nightclub for almost two decades. If you aren’t lucky enough to live in LA and haven’t had the privilege having seen him live, you may be familiar with his recorded work on many of Suhaila Salimpour’s CD’s. He is a master Arabic percussionist, talented with his flourishes and aggressive with his rhythm. On his CD there are four original and innovative tabla solos, ranging in length from a minute and ten seconds (perfect for shorter dance sets!) to just over three minutes, so there is definitely something here for everybody and any type of use! All of the drum solos and orchestrated tracks could be put together in a number of ways to make quite a few high-energy routines.
Kudos to Aleya for producing this gem…“Bellylicious Raks” is a must for any working dancer and would be a wonderful addition to any CD collection.
Bellylicious Raks is available from:
www.aleyabellydance.com 
