What Nepenthe is listening to, right now

Because I listen to Middle Eastern music all the time, I thought that I could have a recurring topic on this blog – what I am listening to right now. I go in phases, listening only to Egyptian baladi progressions for a few weeks, then drum solos, then maybe I'm listening to just Shaabi. Right now, I have discovered a new secret treasure cave within my IPOD, full of music that I had downloaded, but not really listened to yet.

I am seriously digging Dr. Samy Farag. I had just downloaded a few songs from Emusic after seeing Virginia dance to Gawaher on video. Most of his songs start out really exciting, and they all have a lot of changes. I really like the full routine Gawaher because it starts out with a really fantastic entrance, and then moves into a short baladi progression, and a drum solo. It has it all, but at 15 minutes, I probably can't use it in any of my shows. So the song I currently adore and will use in my next set is Rakasni Ya Habibi. I love that it's got the fast exciting entrance, slow juicy parts, and even a fun section with singing.

I thought he was Lebanese because the first song I heard of his, Moghram Ya Leil, was labeled as "Modern Lebanese". And another song he does is "Set El Hosen", which I thought was a Lebanese classic. However, I just now learned (thanks to the Internet), that he's an Egyptian living in Hollywood, CA. But it just doesn't sound like classical or even modern Egyptian to me. His music has a lot of the same elements that I like in Mohammed Ali compositions or the Wash Ya Wash albums, by which I mean the complexities and changes and variety. But it's also very different from those things, to my ear. It has more of a Vegas Showgirl sound to it. I just asked about this on an online bellydance forum so I'll update this post when I get the answer.

A lot of his albums are available on Emusic, and on Itunes. The songs I have been listening to have been from: Dunia El Raks (Set El Hosen, Towam Rouhi, Moghram Ya Leil), Midnight Magic (Gawaher), and Masters of Bellydance Music (Rakasni Ya Habibi).

whee!

I had a wonderful night performing at the Red Fez. I did two sets with the live band. The usual band (the Arabian Nightingales) had another arrangement, but the sub band was great too! I recognized the drummer from shows at the Middle East, so we had a rapport. Because of the dance space, we had more room to interact than we did at the Middle East and I really enjoyed it. One time, we actually level-changed down to the floor and it was like a competition to see who could stay down longer! I gave up - my knees aren't that good. I ended up playing my finger cymbals through my entire second set. I guess I can be comfortable with my finger cymbals, when the music is so good that it transports you into another place and your fingers with you! At any rate, I really enjoyed the band and had a wonderful time dancing and interacting with all the patrons of the restaurant. I really understand what people mean when they say there is something special about live music, something you can't capture with a CD. I do love dancing to a Cd, especially since most bands don't play some of my favorite songs, but there was a true connection tonight, and an energy that suffused the room from the live music.

At any rate, I can definitely recommend the Red Fez for its food, atmosphere, drinks, service. If that place is always as good as it was tonight, it well deserves more of my business. Don't even get me started on the grapeleaves - best I've ever had!