Comments on: 3 Music CD Reviews: The Dancer’s Choice

By: Tracy Benton

Tracy Benton — Wed, 19 May 2010 18:37:25 +0000

I am happy to explain further why I did not give this CD three zils: it was the fuzzy sound of the recording. (Two zils, incidentally, is “average,” not bad.) When I compared the CD with the sound clarity of the other CDs I had to review, I could not give it the same rating. The CD also lacked track length times printed on the CD cover, which is something many dancers have mentioned as something they really want to know before purchasing a CD.
Reviews are highly subjective. It’s all what you like. But I think clear sound quality on a CD is very important.

By: Yasmin Henkesh

Yasmin Henkesh — Wed, 19 May 2010 15:00:00 +0000

Sukara is Leila’s 2nd CD – Helwa was first and Om al Dunya, her most recent release, is third. I too, am curious as to why the reviewer only gave this album 2 zills. Of all Leila’s CDs this one was the most popular, selling over 2000 copies (a blockbuster for belly dance music). Obviously many people thought it was worth buying and from feedback I have received would rate it higher than 2. Beauty is in the eye (or ear) of the beholder - but I am curious to see what would rank a 4 to this reviewer.

By: Amina Goodyear

Amina Goodyear — Tue, 18 May 2010 05:14:47 +0000

Personally I love Leila’s Sukara CD. I use it in my classes all the time. Partially because I like the CD, but mostly because my students always ask for certain songs in it. There aren’t too many CDs out there that have good sound AND have a “live” feeling. We especially like the way the tabla plays the accents. It can be a bit challenging to pick up all the pops and slaps (without memorization) but that’s what makes this CD so exciting and ALIVE. It’s like working with a real drummer, not a machine.
And we love the singing.
Our favorites are Esmaooni, Salamit Om Hassan, Ansak, Min hob fik ya ghari with Taht il Shabak and Mo’aood.
Actually the majensee is our least used track in the piece as it is so typical and predictable.
Tonight when I mentioned that the CD only got a 2 zil rating, my students couldn’t believe it because it’s at least a 3 1/2 in our dance school. A number of my students have also used a number of these songs in shows – especially Mo’aood and Esmaooni. They just used their music software to adjust to allotted time requirements. They would rather do that than find a piece of lesser music because it is the requisite 5 min.
Also, I know that Leila has put out at least 3 CDs not 2.