Fire Dance
Recorded By
Brian Keane & Omar Faruk Tekbilek

A Music Review By Shira

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Summary

Overall Rating: (on a scale of 1 to 5 stars)

Most of the songs on this collection are original music composed by the artists who recorded it, but a couple of them are traditional Middle Eastern songs. The music is performed using a combination of traditional Middle Eastern instruments, guitar, and synthesizer. I liked some of the songs very, very much, and found others to be rather boring. Cover

For dancing, I wouldn't recommend this music for beginners. Although there are a couple of songs that would be suitable for beginners, most employ a level of musical complexity that would be difficult for beginners to work with. For more experienced dancers, this collection offers some nice music that would definitely be a change of pace from the usual repertoire.

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What I Liked, What I Didn't

What I Liked:

I liked some of the songs very, very much and found myself listening to them over and over again. This was particularly true of "Song Of The Pharaohs" and "Desert Twilight".
The quality of the musicianship is excellent. The musicians are clearly very talented and work well together.
The production quality of the music is great. The music comes across as clear, with no hiss, scratchiness, or other problems.
There was a wide variety of music in the collection. I enjoy the full range of music from throughout the Middle East and North Africa, so I'm always happy to find a good sampler like this one.
It included a couple of good selections using less common rhythms such as 9/8 and 6/8.

What I Didn't Like:

I found a couple of the songs to be boring.
The type size on the CD label used for the list of songs was so tiny I could barely read it, especially against the colored background behind it.
Most of the songs were longer than 5 minutes, which makes them less convenient to use when putting a show together. Belly dance festivals and bellygrams usually call for 10-minute shows, so individual songs longer than about 3 1/2 minutes usually need to be cut in order to fit a brief 3-part show into the time allowed.

The Chart

Overall Rating
Production Quality
Musicians' Skill
Suitability For Practice
Suitability For Performing
Educational Value
Packaging
Style	Mostly nightclub drawn from throughout the Middle East, but a few songs would lend themselves to a more folkloric presentation.
Amount Of Music	65:04 minutes
List Price	$14.95
Cost Per Minute Of Music	23 cents/minute

Description

Most of the music in this collection consists of original compositions by Brian Keane and Omar Faruk Tekbilek, following the Middle Eastern style. However, there are some traditional Middle Eastern songs included.

In general, most songs are played on traditional Middle Eastern instruments with some synthesizer accompaniment for effect.

You will probably like this collection if:

You enjoy a wide variety of musical styles from throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
You enjoy both traditional instruments and modern synthesizers, and you like them used skillfully together.
You enjoy both traditional songs and also modern compositions in the Middle Eastern style.
You enjoy fusion music for your dancing.
You like to pick music that has a Middle Eastern flavor yet is distinctive, making your show unique in a line-up that includes many other dancers too.

You probably won't care for this music if:

You're a beginner looking for something simple to practice with or perform to in a recital.
You like only music from a certain region such as Egypt or Turkey.
You prefer music that is actually known and popular in the Middle East rather than material composed in the Middle Eastern style by musicians elsewhere.
You don't care for fusion.

I don't think this music would be the right choice for a beginner who wants practice music or something to use for a solo in a recital. The musical rhythms are rather complex, and in some songs they change frequently within the song. I usually advise beginners to select songs no longer than 3 1/2 minutes for their solos because it's hard for a novice to continue doing exciting things to a particular piece of music for longer than that, and most of the songs in this collection with simple rhythms are longer than 5 minutes.

Songs Included

A note about the RealAudio clips that appear below: the nature of how RealAudio works is that it makes sacrifices in sound quality. It does that because it tries to make the file sizes as small as possible, thereby allowing you to download them faster. As you listen to these clips, please remember that the sound quality on the original recordings is far superior to what these clips sound like.

Song Title	Length	Nationality	RealAudio Clip?	Translation?	Comments
Somewhere In The Sahara	2:30	U.S.A.	No	Instrumental	Starts with sound of wind. Ney comes in. Other instruments enter and build. Smooth transition into next track.
Oglan Boyun	5:11	Persian	Yes	Instrumental	6/8 rhythm. Fun, bouncy. Nice music to use if you're performing in a show with many other dancers and you want something different from what everyone else is using.
A Call To Prayer	5:20	Middle Eastern with U.S. embellishment	No	No	Chant accompanied by background instrumentals. Beautiful & haunting. But not suitable for dance -- dancing to it could offend Muslims.
Desert Twilight	5:11	U.S.A.	Yes	Instrumental	Beautiful, lyrical melody. Made me feel calm while driving in California rush hour traffic. Primary instruments are guitar and ney. Would be lovely for veil work.
A Passage East	3:06	U.S.A.	Yes	Instrumental	Jazz guitar. Did not put me in the mood for Middle Eastern dance. Aimless.
Song Of The Pharaohs	5:57	Ancient Egypt	Yes	Instrumental	Ney solo against background of synthesizer with wind & other effects. Lovely. Calming. Could be nice for veil, balancing, or Pharaonic.
Beledy	5:27	U.S.A.	Yes	Instrumental	Opening zurna improvisation, then maqsoum beat kicks in. Strong percussion throughout. Not recommended for beginners because of frequent rhythm changes, but could be satisfying for more experienced dancer. Spirited half-minute drum solo near the end with playful accents. Zurna leads melody line throughout, giving the piece a decidedly ethnic flavor.
Fire Dance	5:27	Egyptian	No	Instrumental	Definitely modern Egyptian style: big orchestra sound, periodic drum licks, frilly embellishments. Not recommended for beginners because of music complexity.
Ask	6:24	U.S.A.	Yes	Instrumental	Ney/oud duet. Call & answer with the two occasionally playing in unison. Nice, flowing melody, but I was bored with it by the end. Doesn't sound Middle Eastern.
Village Song	4:16	Turkey	No	Instrumental	9/8 rhythm. Played on zurna. Strong percussion throughout. At times, has a fuller orchestral sound. On the border between ethnic flavor and nightclub.
Modern Mystics	2:59	U.S.A.	No	Instrumental	Ney improvisation in the style of the Sufi music used to accompany whirling dervishes. Accompanied by guitar. May be suitable for standing undulations, floor work, balancing.
Sahara (reprise)	1:16	U.S.A.	No	Instrumental	Free-form improvisation. Suitable for standing undulations, balancing, floor work. Guitar melody against synthesizer background.
Spirit Of The Ancestors	5:31	U.S.A.	Yes	No	Strange, eerie but appealing. Deep male voices chanting a percussion rhythm. Layered over that are ney and male vocals.
Halay	5:56	North Africa	No	Instrumental	Bouncy 6/8 rhythm. Builds in volume and energy. Brief drum solo in center. Very much get-up-and-dance music.

Disclosures

I've never had any dealings with Brian Keane or Omar Faruk Tekbilek. I know them only by reputation.

Contacting The Producer & Ordering The Music

<==Click here to order this video from Amazon.com in the U.S.

<==Click here to order from Amazon.ca in Canada. Prices quoted in Canadian dollars.

<==Click here to order from Amazon.co.uk in the U.K. Prices quoted in British pounds.

Or, contact Brian Keane and Omar Faruk Tekbilek through:

Celestial Harmonies
P.O. Box 30122
Tucson, AZ 85751
U.S.A.

Web Site: http://dynrec.com/tekbilek/

Fire Dance Recorded By Brian Keane & Omar Faruk Tekbilek

A Music Review By Shira

Summary

What I Liked, What I Didn't

What I Liked:

What I Didn't Like:

The Chart

Description

Songs Included

Song Title

Length

Nationality

RealAudio Clip?

Translation?

Comments

Disclosures

Contacting The Producer & Ordering The Music

Fire Dance
Recorded By
Brian Keane & Omar Faruk Tekbilek