{"id":273,"date":"2009-04-17T19:16:12","date_gmt":"2009-04-18T02:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/?p=273"},"modified":"2009-04-20T13:50:36","modified_gmt":"2009-04-20T20:50:36","slug":"amina2tradcds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/2009\/04\/17\/amina2tradcds\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Dance CDS for Performance and Listening<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\"Masters<\/p>\n

"The Soul of Cairo" & "The Masters of Bellydance Music" <\/h2>\n

review by Amina Goodyear<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\tposted April 17, 2009<\/span><\/h3>\n

Quite awhile ago Gildedserpent gave me two CDs to review: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Soul of Cairo\u201d<\/span><\/b>by Hollywood Music Center<\/span>, executive producer Movses Panossian<\/span> coordinated by Mher Panossian<\/a><\/span> and <\/span>
\n \u201cThe Masters of Bellydance Music\u201d <\/span><\/b>by Caravan Records<\/span>,\u00a0executive producer Movses Panossian, produced by Mher Panossian<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/span>Although under different labels, both of these CDs belong to a Panossian family operation also known as Hollywood Music Center. I know them as one of my main sources of dance music and videos and always seek them out at bellydance festivals. Although they have quite an impressive and easy to use online website and catalog, I am an old-fashioned touchy feely kind of person and like to see and handle the items in person. Lucky me, although I don\u2019t live in their area, I get to go to festivals where they are prominent vendors. This may sound like a promotional ad, but actually it is not. This family is dedicated to producing (and also finding) the latest and most popular bellydance music as well as reissuing classic albums in a remastered format with updated liner notes. When I go to various dance festivals, I like to see what HMC has to offer as it often reflects the dance trends. (Yes, they are well-informed vendors.) Although I often don\u2019t like or agree with these trends, at least I know what they are. While these trends seem to change from year to year, one thing that does not change is the fact that the music sold by this family seems to have pretty good \u2013 as in very high standard \u2013 sound quality. Being an \u201cold-fashioned\u201d and traditional Middle Eastern music lover I don\u2019t always agree with the bulk of the music that is sold by Hollywood Music Center, but I will say that Mher Panossian (who is very visible at the dance festivals I attend), once informed of my personal tastes, has always only shown me music I like. The following two CDs are reviews of the type of music that I like.<\/span> These CDs would be under the category of \u201cTraditional\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Soul of Cairo\u201d<\/h3>\n

\"SoulComposed and Conducted by Ahmad Gibaly<\/span>
\nPerformed by Ahmad Gibaly and Orchestra<\/span>
\nProduced by Hollywood Music Center<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The Soul of Cairo (Bellydance routine) 9:04<\/b>
    \nThis is a very beautiful and soulful bellydance routine \u2013 even though each melodic and rhythmic section stops completely (so you can actually make the piece shorter if you wish by cutting and pasting), each section flows naturally into the next section. The routine is very clear and well mixed. You can hear each distinctive\u00a0instrument and rhythm played.\u00a0 However, to me, the Soul of the Cairo Bellydance is the heavy percussion section and this piece is treated like a classic song, not like a typical Cairo percussion heavy magensi*. But it is a very predictable, pleasant and easy to dance to piece.<\/li>\n