From Istanbul via Cairo!
This album is a fantasy come true for Middle
Eastern dancers. Sands of Time Music commissioned the world famous Henkesh
Brothers from Egypt to record a Turkish dance CD. The timing was
right. After Egypt’s 2011 revolution the country’s performers were out of work.
In a time of suffering, a few of Egypt’s most talented musicians escaped into a
recording studio to interpret Turkish and Ottoman dance favorites. The
result is a must-have album for any Middle Eastern music collection.
The album’s contents reflect Turkey’s
ethnic diversity. Besides native Turkish selections, there are songs by the
Roma (Gypsies), the Greeks, the Sephardic Ladinos and the Arabs. Most of the melodies are centuries old, from
Turkey’s Ottoman era. One of them, Uskudara, can be traced back to Yisrael
Najara, an Ottoman Jew, who transformed an Arabic tavern song into a shabbat
prayer for his book, Yeshivot Yisrael, published
in 1587. This melody is also on Loreena McKennitt’s album Ancient Muse as Sacred
Shabbat. The album’s liner-notes, a 36-page color booklet, are filled with
in-depth descriptions of each song’s history and lyrics.
There are 31 tracks in all; two versions
of the songs (with and without finger cymbals – Artemis Mourat plays Turkish/Vintage
Orientale zills in duets with Yasmin Henkesh on Egyptian sagat) - 10 rhythm
tracks for practice and a bonus track, a field recording from 1980s London.
Here Turkish musicians play an Arabic classic, Ah Ya Zein, for a short
“Egyptian” cabaret performance.
Track Name Run Time
*********************************************************
01 Raqs Badia 1:42
02 Fasulye 2:17
03 Ninanay 2:50
04 Imlali
al-Aqdaha Serfen 1:51
05 Zenouba 3:24
06 Siseler :48
07 Istemim
Babacim 1:48
08 Billazi
Asdkara 2:05
09 Üsküdar 2:43
10 Bahriye
Çiftetelli 1:42
11 Raqs Badia
with cymbals 1:42
12 Fasulye
with cymbals 2:17
13 Ninanay
with cymbals 2:50
14 Imlali
al-Aqdaha Serfen with cymbals 1:51
15 Zenouba
with cymbals 3:24
16 Siseler
with cymbals :48
17 Istamim
Babacim with cymbals 1:48
18 Billazi
Asdkara with cymbals 2:05
19 Üsküdar with
cymbals 2:43
20 Bahriye
Çiftetelli with cymbals 1:42
21 Drill 01
Malfouf Egyptian 2:04
22 Drill 02
Malfouf Turkish 2:38
23 Drill 03 Çiftetelli 2:00
24 Drill 04
Samaee 2:02
25 Drill 05
6-8 Ottoman 2:04
26 Drill 06
Fast Romani 9/8 2:02
27 Drill 07
Kaba Roman medium 9/8 2:03
28 Drill 08
Slow Romani 9/8 2:02
29 Drill 09
Fast Romani 9/8 variation 2:15
30 Drill 10
Medium Romani 9/8 variation 2:08
31 Turkish Performance Field Recording 9:56