Thread: Zar music recommendations?

Anyone have any music recommendations for a staged Zar performance? Or any songs with a section in them that has Zar potential?

I know Ayoub is a good Zar rhythm, any other rhythms that lend themselves to trance dance?


Happy dancing!!

Baseena

Yasmin has a cd out with genuine zar music on it: www.serpentine.org
The booklet has lyrics with translations and explains which music is for which Jinn (if I recall correctly).

Originally Posted by SamiraShuruk

Yasmin has a cd out with genuine zar music on it: www.serpentine.org
The booklet has lyrics with translations and explains which music is for which Jinn (if I recall correctly).

Ooooh nonono that would be a really bad idea. Serpentine and I just talked about that a few days ago too. Definately buy that CD, it will give you a fantastic frame of referrence so that you can keep your ears open when shopping for stage music. But don't bring out the ritual music for a stage performance. The booklet is also very handy too, the whole thing is probably the most underappreciated accomplishment in ethnomusicology. I stongly suspect that the scope of its contribution won't be fully recognized for a while.

A cute little piece of music that has a nice little 30 -40 second trance section in the middle is "Warda" off the Belly Dance Superstars Vol. 1. A friend of mine has danced to that a few times and it has a little peek-a-boo effect. You can throw in a hint of artistic head tossing and not make it too serious. I'm sure there are dozens of other good ones I just can't think of them off the top of my head.

If you want to use some trance music thats not nearly so dark as the ayub theres always the malfoof and, if you have a good sense of balance, the zeffa. The malfoof is much more fun to dance to in my opinion and the zeffa is really underplayed.

Have fun!
~*Genisis*~

Originally Posted by Genisis

A cute little piece of music that has a nice little 30 -40 second trance section in the middle is "Warda" off the Belly Dance Superstars Vol. 1. A friend of mine has danced to that a few times and it has a little peek-a-boo effect. You can throw in a hint of artistic head tossing and not make it too serious. I'm sure there are dozens of other good ones I just can't think of them off the top of my head.


~*Genisis*~

I was just coaching a student on this music yesterday (she learned Jillina's choreography from a DVD) and we worked with this ayyub section quite a bit. It's nice... just long enough and mysterious enough sounding to do a mini stage Zar, but there's happy music too.

Omar Faruk Tekbilek's "Whirling" CD has a zar track on it, I believe. And "Morocco Dance" from "Immortal Egypt" might give you what you want.

Originally Posted by Genisis

Ooooh nonono that would be a really bad idea. Serpentine and I just talked about that a few days ago too. Definately buy that CD, it will give you a fantastic frame of referrence so that you can keep your ears open when shopping for stage music. But don't bring out the ritual music for a stage performance. The booklet is also very handy too, the whole thing is probably the most underappreciated accomplishment in ethnomusicology. I stongly suspect that the scope of its contribution won't be fully recognized for a while.

A cute little piece of music that has a nice little 30 -40 second trance section in the middle is "Warda" off the Belly Dance Superstars Vol. 1. A friend of mine has danced to that a few times and it has a little peek-a-boo effect. You can throw in a hint of artistic head tossing and not make it too serious. I'm sure there are dozens of other good ones I just can't think of them off the top of my head.

If you want to use some trance music thats not nearly so dark as the ayub theres always the malfoof and, if you have a good sense of balance, the zeffa. The malfoof is much more fun to dance to in my opinion and the zeffa is really underplayed.

Have fun!
~*Genisis*~

Woops. Genisis, you are absolutely right. I specifically said "genuine zar music" because I know it's for ritual and not for stage. I should have said that though. I brought it up because it is fantastic research tool so that when looking for stage zar music you have a broader point of view than "I need to find ayyoub".
It's such an important and sacred part of the culture- I believe researching it before presenting a stage zar is imperative.

There is one track off my Zar album that I would suggest using. Shoo Shoo Amin used that song/thread when she did her staged version of the zar (see the YouTube clip). It's called Ya Banat al-Handasa (Female Engineers in the sense that they mischeviously 'engineer' events, meetings, etc.). The whole version of Shoo Shoo's staged zar is wonderful, incense and all. Try to see it first before recreating your own versions.