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A Report on the Available Recordings of Middle Eastern Music in the United States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2016

Lorraine Sakata
Affiliation:
University of Washington

Extract

Recordings of Middle Eastern music are too numerous to list and discuss individually here, but certain exemplary recordings and labels will be noted in this report.

Generally speaking, there are two types of recordings of Middle Eastern music available in the United States. One type is intended for general audiences and includes popular music sung by internationally known singers such as Um Kalthum and Fairuz, and orchestral ensembles playing what has become known as “Belly dance” or “Oriental dance” music. Intended for relatively easy listening, very little information is offered about the performances; the main attraction being the artists themselves or the accompaniment to dance. The second type of recording is generally more informative and concentrates on the music as well as the musicians. The division between the two types is certainly not clear cut and many recordings may be described as a little of each.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Middle East Studies Association of North America 1978

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References

1 Each issue of Ethnomusicology, the journal of the Society for Ethnomusicology, includes a “Current Bibliography and Discography” where one can find information on newly released recordings under the headings : Africa-recordings, Asia and Oceania-recordings, and some under Republications-recordings. Also, many recordings of Middle Eastern music have been reviewed in different issues of the same journal.