Ruby

Ten brand new sparkling jewels of glorious classical-style Egyptian dance compositions by Hossam Ramzy, exploring the whole spectrum of sounds and emotions. The pieces are lush, extravagant, dynamic, exciting, emotional, light-hearted, soulful and above all & very danceable!

The stunning follow-up to Hossam Ramzy's "Faddah 'Silver'" album (EUCD1614).

"I was asked by many dancers around the world to create an album of similar style and quality" says Hossam. "The compositions should be around five minutes in length but still capture the spirit of the classical Egyptian dance style of the 1970s and 80s in Cairo, as well as bring it all into the 21st century. Not an easy task, but here we have it."

The album presents a revolutionary juxtaposition of modern and traditional elements, resulting in sounds which are as unique and varied as they are lush and soulful.

"For example, in the song 'Ruby' I managed to merge various genres of music that are not always put together… I put Baladi (urbanized folklore) together with pop, mixed in with very Classical phrases that developed into hard-core Saidi folklore from northern Egypt, then travelled through a philharmonic orchestral strings section with no percussion, which develops back to the Saidi which became the finale of the song. This song was chosen by Serena, the Ruby of my heart, as her own song from the moment she heard it."

Always one to push himself and try to break artistic boundaries, Egypt's Ambassador of Rhythm is extremely proud of his latest album: "I am over the moon. I have been waiting to be able to do an album like this that brings back that Golden Era of the Egyptian Dance Music. I believe a new standard for this music has been set and you will see this from the dancers' response to it. I tell you I had many of the world's top dancers in my studio in tears because of this music and pleading to let them have a copy before it is finished... you will not believe how many!

"The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and they liked the taste!"