Jalilah's Raks Sharki Oriental Dance Series is Back with Stagecuts

The best of the pioneering Jalilah‘s Raks Sharki oriental dance series in 16 stage cuts for a new generation of dancers and performance spaces, selected by Jalilah herself. Traditional songs – edited and remastered – are presented in 16 crunchy shortened tracks, selected from six previous albums. A current development shows that Stage Cuts has its finger on the pulse of the times - the facts speak for themselves: In earlier times the typical length for a dance performance on festivals was  between  10 to  20  minutes  -  nowadays the  time  limit  is usually  under  five minutes.

Taken from Mokhtar Al-Said‘s "El Ferqa Al Mesaya" Orchestra, to Hossam Shaker and his Ensemble, to the magical melodies and rhythms of Ihsan Al-Mounizer, this record fulfills the highest artistic demands, mirroring Jalilah's attachment to her idols:

”Stage Cuts is a tribute to the great names in Oriental Dance history − to all these musicians, composers and most of all to the per formers who love and cherish this beautiful dance form!“, so Jalilah states her intention for the new release. But also lovers of Oriental Dance music will find what their hearts desire, bridging tradition and modernity

ARTIST INFORMATION

JALILAH (Lorraine Zamora Chamas) has performed world-wide at all types of venues. Starting in 1985, she visited Egypt multiple times to perfect her dancing and learnt about the style “Ghawazee.” She performed with famous music groups like Sharkiat and Salamat. Jalilah conducts advanced dance workshops that focus on music with Middle Eastern rhythms, Ghawazee and other folkloric dance styles.

MOKHTAR AL-SAID started as an accordionist in and later on became the director of El Ferka el Mesaya, a renown group who‘s name translates as the Orchestra of Diamonds. He was active for over 30 years in the Egyptian music industry working with many well-known artists such as Abdel Halim Hafez, Farid el Attrashe, and Warda.

HOSSAM SHAKER is a graduate from the Higher Institute of Arabic Music in Cairo and has worked as a musician, conductor and composer all over the world. Beside classical Arab music Hossam also plays jazz and performed with the renown Arabic Jazz group Sharkiat lead by Fathy Salama.

IHSAN AL-MOUNZER is from Lebanon and studied music at both the Beirut Conservatory and Cairo Conservatory. He backed famous singers such as Feyrouz, Sabah and Wadi al-Safi and also composed music for many well-known singers as well as music for Raks Sharki