Hossam Ramzy Presents:
Master of the Arabian Flute, Mohamed Naiem

Ambassador of Arabic Music Hossam Ramzy brings another beautiful instrument and talented musician to the forefront of the world music and belly dance genre. Ramzy in the past has highlighted kanun, trumpet, flamenco, and traditional Egyptian music. Now he introduces us to the amazing depths of the Nay, one of the oldest instruments known in Egypt and the Arab world. Mohamed Naiem is an amazing nay player and the songs on this album are both haunting and inspiring.

The melodies in songs like El-Fagr (Dawn) and Hams (Whispers) are vaguely reminiscent of Omar Faruk Tekbilek and Brian Keene's wildly popular Fire Dancer. Every piece is imminently danceable and unique. Naiem explores the rich softness of the nay in some pieces, the mysterious aloofness in others.

The least pleasing song is Fantasia which has a little too much synthesized keyboard. It was influenced by the artists' jazz backgrounds, but struck me as discordant in comparison to the rest of the tracks.

Ramzy deftly embellishes many of the pieces with his spot-on drumming. As with his Qanun el Tarab, he adroitly keeps the percussion in the background, allowing the nay to claim the spotlight throughout the album, instead of overpowering it with his intense riffs.

The most danceable piece is the last, Al-Reda Wal Noor (Accepting the Light) with its full orchestration and multi-layered melodies. Ramzy's drumming gets a little more spotlight in this song and adds a nice counterpoint to the strains of the nay.

his album is a must for belly dancers. Given the current trend of pop belly dance music, Master of the Arabian Flute is a classical and classy compilation of beautiful nay songs

Farfesha Belly Dance © 2004