Singer George Abdo was a legend in Middle Eastern communities in the United States and abroad. For many years, he reigned at the now-defunct Averof supper club in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he presented an appealing, exciting mix of new material and old favorites, arranged in his inimitable style. Abdo was a fusion pioneer before "fusion" existed as a genre. An Egyptian American, he created a multi-ethnic environment in which one national identity bled into another. On any evening, his bandstand might have included Armenians, Syrians, Greeks, Lebanese, and Egyptians. He blended one group's musical loves with another's, as when he adapted tunes by such renowned Arab composers as Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab with new Greek lyrics, such as on "Ta Mavra Matia Sou (Your Black Eyes)." He switched between languages and styles flawlessly, often within a single tune, such as on "Raks Mustapha (Mustapha's Dance)," in which he alternates easily between French and Arabic. A song like "Allah, Ya Lubnan (God, My Beautiful Lebanon)" demanded an international platoon of electric violin, qanun (hammered dulcimer), congas, claves, and Chinese gong, among other instruments. But it was Abdo's warm, sensuous croon and the superb musicianship of his players that were prized above all else by professional dancers and enthusiastic audiences alike, and this best-of disc captures his talents in full bloom in both studio and live recordings.
Sure, some of this music sounds a little dated now--it's hard to take the Spain-via-Hollywood-and-Cairo strums of the song "Sahirrnee (Bewitched)" as anything but camp. Even so, Abdo still exerts an electrifying hold, especially on tunes such as "Ya Gameel (Oh Gameel)," in which he lets go with thrilling improvisations, or in the dynamic whirl of "Hadouni, Hadouni." Smithsonian Folkways' typically exemplary liner notes with lengthy essays, bibliography, and discography complete this must-have package for Middle Eastern enthusiasts. But even if you don't know an 'ud from a bouzouki, Abdo draws you into his happily multicultural world, and soon enough you'll be doing the debkeh right alongside his Averof dancers. Tragically, Abdo died a mere two weeks before this album was released in May 2002; he was killed in a car accident on the way to his 65th birthday party. This is a fitting tribute to a singular talent. --Anastasia Tsioulcas
Product Description
Known as "The King of Belly Dance Music," George Abdo and his Flames of Araby Orchestra combine Syrian, Lebanese, Egyptian, Armenian, Greek, and Turkish musical traditions to create a uniquely American belly dance soundscape. Abdo's music is based on the repertoire, instrumentation, and performance styles of the Middle East while also incorporating influences from American pop and jazz. A prototype for "World Beat," Abdo and His Flames of Araby helped bring Middle Eastern music and belly dancing to mainstream North American audiences. Culled from his 5 best-selling albums, this compilation showcases rich vocals and lively rhythms played on violin, oboe, 'ud, qanun, darbukka, and bouzouki as well as guitar, piano, bass, and drums
Belly Dance! The Best of George Abdo and His Flames of Araby Orchestra,George Abdo,Smithsonian Folkways,Belly Dancing,Int'l & World Music,Middle Eastern Pop,Pop,World Music
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Belly Dance! The Best of George Abdo and His Flames of Araby Orchestra
George Abdo Manufacturer: Smithsonian Folkways ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD  General
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ASIN: B0000658MR Release Date: 2002-05-21 |
Tracks:
- Ya Gameel
- Ruh Tum Bi Salama
- Ta Mavra Matia Sou
- Raks Araby
- Hadouni, Hadouni
- Allah, Ya Lubnan
- Raks Averof
- Raks Mustapha
- Min Feegis
- Raks El-Malek
- Sahirrnee
- Noora Ya Noora
- O Paliatzis
- Dio Cardias
- Imm Al-Manadili
Album Description
Known as "The King of Belly Dance Music," George Abdo and his Flames of Araby Orchestra combine Syrian, Lebanese, Egyptian, Armenian, Greek, and Turkish musical traditions to create a uniquely American belly dance soundscape. Abdo's music is based on the repertoire, instrumentation, and performance styles of the Middle East while also incorporating influences from American pop and jazz. A prototype for "World Beat," Abdo and His Flames of Araby helped bring Middle Eastern music and belly dancing to mainstream North American audiences. Culled from his 5 best-selling albums, this compilation showcases rich vocals and lively rhythms played on violin, oboe, 'ud, qanun, darbukka, and bouzouki as well as guitar, piano, bass, and drumsCustomer Reviews:
King of bellydance!.......2006-08-15
The Ultimate Belly-Dancing Music.......2006-06-21
It's hard to imagine that just a few decades ago Middle Eastern culture was considered hip and fashionable in the United States. After decades of political turmoil, years of Intifada, rise of fundamentalist Islamic terrorism, and overwhelming anti-Arabic propaganda that dominated American movie and TV screens since the late 70s, the Middle Eastern culture is anything but hip. However that was not the case in the 60s and 70s decades of the 20th century - time when Middle East was considered exotic and yes - hip. During that time, dozens of Middle Eastern restaurants and night clubs prospered and American public embraced the exotic Middle Eastern culture.
Many of cultures are divided in their homeland by animosity caused by differences in religion, centuries of warfare, and mutual genocides. However once removed from native soil immigrants from Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Turkey, Armenia, Jordan, Israel, and other Middle-Eastern countries quickly discovered that despite their differences, they shared common cultural background manifested in similar culture, cuisine, music, and dance. This common cultural background once transplanted onto American soil gave rise to a fascinating musical genre - not quite Middle Eastern in the traditional sense, and yet not completely Americanized. Eddie Kochak, one of the prominent figures of this musical scene called this unusual genre Ameraba - American Arabic Music. However, even this term is too restrictive - this music can be equally claimed by a variety of ethnicities, and this fact made it truly American, in the "melting-pot" kind of sense. For convenience, we could call it Belly-dance music. Belly-dancing was exceedingly popular, and Anglo-Saxon house-wives engaged in belly-dancing routines were more common than authentic Middle Eastern belly-dancers. Places like Club Zara and Averof Restaurant quickly became the centers of the belly-dancing sub-culture, catering Pan-Middle-Eastern culture, décor, cuisine, dance, and of course music to Americans and immigrants alike. And George Abdo was the undisputed king of the Belly-Dancing scene.
George Abdo and his multi-ethnic Flames of Araby Orchestra, created some of the most beautiful musical compositions, generously spiced with virtuoso improvisations on various acoustic instruments, traditional Middle Eastern melodies, authentic compositions, and occasional touches of guitars, violins, or keyboards. His music cannot be considered truly traditional; however George Abdo's belly-dance routines are predominantly acoustic and lack the drum-machine and keyboard sound that dominates the modern Middle Eastern pop music. Being neither traditional nor modern his music belongs in the smoked up Middle Eastern restaurants of the 60s and 70s. It is best enjoyed with grape leaf mezzas, lamb kebobs, occasional shot of anise vodka, dabkah line-dancing, and of course - a belly-dancer.
http://musicmaxim.blogspot.com/
The perfect foundation for a new dancer's collection.......2006-03-17
World Class Music: Creative, Mysterious, Exotic , Alluring.......2004-06-10
The creativity and artistic talents of these fine musicians is demonstrated on both traditional and modern instruments. One can hear the oud (Middle Eastern lute), qanun (similar to hammered dulcimer or zither), darbukha (type of drum), and bouzouki (Greek lute-like instrument) along with modern instruments, the piano, guitar, bass and drums. For me, the Middle Eastern rhythms played on the violin adds an unexpected and magical sound to complete this musical experience. Favorite tracks on this CD are:"Raks Araby" (Arabic Dance), "Hadouni Hadouni", "Sahirrne" (Bewitched), "Raks Mustapha" (Mustapha's Dance), "Noora Ya Norra", and "Dio Cardia" (Two Hearts). Listening to 75 minutes of this Middle Eastern musical feast, I understand why George Abdo is known as "the King of Belly Dance Music". Most highly recommended. Erika Borsos (erikab93)
classical happy music.......2004-04-29
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