Jalaleddin “Jalaleddin Presents Belly Dance Music”

A great belly dance music album from 1976—especially if you’re in the mood for belly dance music—for listening, or belly dancing. Or, say if you have a belly dance group or are taking lessons, or just dance for fun and exercise. None of the dancing options apply to me, but occasionally I cook an exotic dinner at home and want to feel like I’m in the Staten Island restaurant scene in Barefoot in the Park (1967)—and this is perfect for that. Side 1 is a 24-minute belly dance routine—otherwise nameless, save: “Music for Bellydancers”—which it is—and is satisfyingly long—it’s a complete meal. And Side 2 is five separate songs, all in a similar style, to my ears—but somewhat different from each other, maybe focusing on different instruments, I’m not sure. The name and spellings of the songs—on the label and the album cover—don’t exactly match—I always love that. One of the songs (that does match) is called “Z”—great song title—and it’s a rollicking good time, too.

The leader here, Jalaleddin Takesh, is the arranger and plays the Kanoon, which I previously thought was something I could eat. But in this case, it’s an instrument that may have different spellings (qanun, kanun, ganoun) which is a stringed instrument that is somewhat similar (as far as I can tell) to a zither. The liner notes say that it’s one of the most difficult Middle Eastern stringed instruments to master, and Jalal Takesh is a virtuoso. Credits list the other musicians, who play: Bouzouki (never thought it was a Greek dish—a stringed instrument, similar to a lute), Violin, Guitar, Dumbeg (a kind of goblet drum, not a Middle Eastern pastry as I would have guessed), Bass, Drums, Tambourine, and Zils (little cymbals, not symbolic money). The album cover is exceptional, a color portrait—drawing or painting—of Jalaleddin playing the (I assume) Kanoon. It’s credited to S. C. Schoenberg. It’s one of those artworks that, to me, at least, has an elusive appeal. I mean, it’s a nice portrait, Jalaleddin is quite handsome and mysterious, but it’s also got a quality that I can’t put my finger on—it feels alive, maybe even haunted, or mystical—I don’t know, all of those if that’s possible. And I bet it sold some records.

11.22.24