Live At The Wow
Recorded By
Troupe Americanistan

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

This collection by Troupe Americanistan, based in Eugene, Oregon, contains nearly 73 minutes of music in 15 tracks. Recorded live at the WOW Hall, most of the music consists of original compositions by group members based on Middle Eastern rhythms and stylings, although there are a couple of familiar Arabic songs included. As I listened to it, I found myself thinking in terms of using this music in conjunction with American tribal style costuming and dance rather than nightclub style. (Not sure what I mean by "nightclub" and "tribal" styles? See Styles Of Belly Dance In The United States elsewhere on this web site for a full explanation.) Although there were a couple of tracks that didn't excite me, overall I enjoyed the CD as a nice option to have in my music collection.

What I Liked:

• The music makes an interesting change of pace for American tribal-style performances. It's not as well known as some of the other recordings that tribal dancers use and therefore may seem like a refreshing change of pace in a dance show with multiple tribal acts.
• There's a lot of music on this collection: almost 73 minutes, to be precise. (The maximum that a CD can hold is 74 minutes.) Assuming you like this group's style, this album offers a good value for your money.
• Although I usually don't care for recordings of live performances, I liked this one because the musicians managed to convey a sort of energy and spontaneity which is often missing from studio recordings. Also, it did not have the excessive amount of applause, joking, or chatty introductions which have annoyed me in other live performance recordings.
• In a couple of songs (Serpentine and Sword Dance), the music started out slow and dramatic, then gradually built into a medium-speed tempo. The performers handled these transitions quite subtly and skillfully.
• Each song is an individual track. This makes it easy for me, as a dancer, to pick and choose which songs I want to use in the order that best fits my needs of the moment.
• The sound quality is good--although it lacks the polish of a studio recording due to being taped on location at a live performance, it's still good enough to use in performance settings.
• The musicians employ a variety of instruments across the various songs. This results in a collection of music in which each song has a distinctive sound but still everything can be used comfortably together in the same performance without clashing.
• The music included two 9/8 songs and a 6/8. I'm always happy to discover a recording that offers these alternative rhythms to spice up a show.
• Many of the songs were in the range of 3-4 minutes long, which is a good length when assembling a group of songs into a show. For American audiences, the Top 40 radio format has indoctrinated people into having attention spans that start to drift when individual songs exceed this length. This is also a manageable length for beginner-level performers who might not have the skill to sustain an interesting dance for a longer piece of music.

What I Didn't Like:

• In some cases, the musicianship could have benefited from more precision. For example, one of the reasons I didn't care for the performance of Aziza on this particular collection was because I've always preferred crisp arrangements of that particular song. On this recording, the musical interpretation leans more toward a flowing, lyrical style with assorted embellishments around the melody line rather than the precise, energetic style that I prefer for that particular song. I acknowledge that your taste may be different.
• In a couple of songs, the violin sounded as though the musician were trying to find the correct pitch of the note. In fairness, I think that she actually was trying to produce a vibrato effect, but to me it just sounded like someone who was uncertain of where to place her hand and wobbled until she got it right. But someone else might like this effect, thinking that it conveys the mood of a "party in the village".

This musical collection is dominated by violin and flute, although some other instruments are featured on selected songs. Most of the songs were composed by members of this musical ensemble, but there are three familiar ones: Aziza, Aya Zein, and Habbena.

You will probably like this collection if:

• You prefer acoustic instruments rather than electronic synthesizers.
• You particularly like violin and flute playing Middle Eastern music.
• You feel energized by music that was recorded in a live performance, with audience applause.
• You enjoy the American tribal style of dance, and you're looking for suitable music that will be different from what everyone else is using.
• You like a "party in the village" style of music where it feels like a group of friends have gotten together for a jam session, as opposed to a slick production.
• You like music with lots of improvisation and embellishment around the melody line.
• You're already a fan of Troupe Americanistan from seeing their live performances in the Oregon area, and you'd like a copy of their music to work with on your own.

You probably won't care for this music if:

• You love pop music played on electronic instruments.
• You prefer music which was originally made popular in the Middle East rather than original compositions by musicians in North America.
• Your favorite music consists of slick 40-piece orchestras playing from set scores (as is the case with much "classic" Egyptian music from the Mohammed Abdel Wahab era) where even the smallest accent is rehearsed.
• You prefer music that offers a crisp presentation of the melody line, with minimal embellishment.
• You're not fond of violin and flute being used for Middle Eastern music. Those instruments don't dominate every cut on this collection, but they do have a high profile.

This CD is an interesting change of pace from much of the belly dance music on the market, mostly due to the fact that most of the songs on it are original compositions by the performers rather than familiar melodies that originated in the Middle East. If you're likely to be appearing in a large belly dancing festival, you may like the distinctiveness of the music on this album, especially if you gravitate to the American tribal style of dance.

My reaction to individual tracks on this CD varied. There were some I liked very much, and others I didn't care for. Some examples:

• Although Aziza is normally one of my favorite Arabic songs, I didn't care for the musicians' decision to use a smooth, flowing interpretation of it with a lot of embellishment in places. I generally prefer to hear this song played with a crisp staccato style instead.
• On the other hand, I very much enjoyed the Sword Dance, particularly the sense of power it conveyed throughout and the musicians' skillful building from slow and dramatic to faster and energetic.
• I thoroughly enjoyed the first 3 1/2 minutes of the Veil Dance which featured a kanoun playing a lyrical melody line, but then it transitioned into a flute playing jazz-like improvisation which really didn't seem to fit with the first part of the song. The result felt like two completely different numbers that didn't relate to each other crammed into a single track--both the flute and the kanoun would have been more effective if this number had been separated into two distinct tracks, each with its own distinct beginning and ending.
• I was intrigued by how this ensemble interpreted Aya Zein. This traditional Arabic song is usually played at either medium-speed or fast tempo, with a strong percussion foundation, and as a result is usually most effective for entrances, finalés, or as a separator between two slow numbers. However, Troupe Americanistan gave it a much slower, more lyrical interpretation that made me think in terms of using it for veil work. It was an interesting fresh variation on an old song.

The reason I gave this CD only one star for educational value is because you won't learn a lot about the music of the Middle East from it. Most of the songs were composed by members of Troupe Americanistan. Of the three that are well-known Arabic songs, unfortunately, the CD label gives incorrect information about who composed one of them (Habbena Habbena). It attributes that song to Mohammed al-Wahab, but the composer was actually Farid al-Atrache. Although I liked Troupe Americanistan's unique arrangement of Aya Zein, it really doesn't represent what you would normally get if you asked a group of musicians to play that song for you. Still, educational value is only one dimension, and this CD performs well on other criteria.

Song Title

Length

Nationality

RealAudio Clip?

Translation?

Comments

Deena's Double Veils

• Entrance Song (maqsoum). About 3:38 in length.
• Flowing Song. About 6 minutes in length.
• Drum Solo. About 2 minutes in length.
• Closing Song. Reprise of opener. Just under a minute.
• Finale. About a minute.

Contact Troupe Americanistan as follows:

Denise Gilbertson
3150 West 14th Avenue
Eugene, OR 97402
United States

Phone: (+1) (541) 484-5071
Web Site: http://www.americanistan.com/
E-Mail: dunyah@earthlink.net

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