Modern Lebanese Belly Dance

This album of belly dancing music from Emad Sayyah satisfies all necessary aspects of belly dancing for the casual listener. The pieces are chosen such that they might show a variety of dance styles on the part of the dancer, though the visual aspect is rather moot given the audio nature of the album. The music itself is quite nice, though, while Sayyah runs through a series of original compositions. He hits on some classic stylings that make heavy use of the percussionists and more traditional instruments (saz, qanun). He incorporates the violin to a good extent for the mix of traditional and contemporary, and he includes newer instrumentation, such as the guitar and sax, for the most original pieces (what you might hear in Lebanese clubs now). The tone of the music ranges from the more relaxed beginner pieces to rousing, thrusting vocal works, with the necessary call and response included, of course. A particular highlight is the virtuoso exploration of the darbukkas in "Taht El Balah." The drummers move to their fingertips for a shimmy-inducing run at speeds rivaling a good tabla player. Sayyah has a handful of similar albums out already, so this one may or may not provide much new to the listener who's already acquainted with his style. For a new listener, however, it makes a nice introduction to his particular breed of belly dancing music.