Album Notes

The Fertile Crescent is known as the birthplace of civilization. Levant, which includes modern-day Syria, was The Crescent’s desert oasis. For millennia, Arabs have traveled north to Levant for its natural beauty and abundant food. Levant is the birthplace of Gaida's family and ancestors.
The songs on Levantine Indulgence represent the eclectic mix of musical styles Gaida has absorbed over her lifetime. She explores the flexible qualities of traditional Arabic maqam (modes) and improvisational style, in Arab folk, Egyptian baladi, and Tarab (ecstasy) songs interspersed with jazz, bossa nova, and contemporary ballad. Levantine Indulgence is a highly personal retrospective showcasing over a decade of work, and is remarkable in that it was recorded entirely live in the studio. In this debut album, Gaida exposes her innermost emotions using her powerful yet refined and expressive voice. Each song is at its core about love, longing and caring. In Gaida's own words, “I will always sing with tears close to my eyes, beats pounding my fragile heart, and care wrapping the entire world.”
Gaida was born in Germany and raised in Damascus, and has also lived in Kuwait, Paris and Detroit. She now resides in New York and is considered one of the city’s leading female vocalists.

Levantine Indulgence, a song sequence of alluring beauty, is steeped in the traditional music of Gaida’s Syrian heritage, but also shows the eclectic worldview of a New York singer-songwriter"—Timeout New York.