The Radio Bastet LP Cover Gallery

YOUSSEF KASSAB WITH THE SALIM SARWEH ORCHESTRA
Bedouin Belly Dance
Peters International PILPS-10251; 1977
Album Design: Don Munz
Cover Dancer: Nadira
All selections by Youssef Kassab, except Semai al Aryan composed by Ibrahim Al Aryan.

SIDE ONE  Taar Yilli Bahibbu Taar (This is a story of lost love. It takes place in modern times.) * Dakhlak Ya Tair Ali (A distraught young man sends a small bird as a messenger to his lost love.) * Ataba u Meejana (A type of song from the mountains of Syria and Lebanon. The melody is improvised. The words are written in a highly metaphoric descriptive style called Wasf, that can be traced back to its origins in pre-Islamic, Arabic poetry and the Song of Songs. The singer finds a beautiful, dark girl in a garden of flowers. Honey comes from her lips when she smiles. Her perspiration appears as pearls on her gold necklace and marble body. The two will spend one night in the Garden of Eden, and the “Apple of Paradise” will be theirs.) * Farhat Amri (Joyous Life) * Semai al Aryan

SIDE TWO  Bedouin Dance: A complete routine for a spectacular belly dance performance.

THE MUSICIANS:  Youssef Kassab (oud, vocals, composition, arrangements, production, lyrics for Dakhlak Ya Tair Ali) * Zane Shayeb (lyrics for Taar Yilli Bahibbu Taar and Ataba u Meejana) * Mohammed El Akkad (kanoun on Ataba u Meejana) * Johnny Mirhige (tambourine on Semai al Aryan) * Salim Sarweh (orchestra conductor, kanoun)