Album Notes

Over 70 minutes of music! This is Egyptian country music at its best, sung by belly dancer Dina’s favorite beladi singer, Hoda Sunbati. Included in the CD is a color booklet with translations in English, transliterations of the Arabic and the Arabic script for all the songs, plus an article explaining Egyptian Leyali and mawwal.

Hoda began singing at a very young age and worked with her parents and family at mawaled and local weddings. She was known for singing odes (mawal) and imitating the styles of famous singers from the past. She joined the Ministry of Culture in 1995 and became a member of the Folkloric Band under the Ministry’s auspices. She represented Egypt at many festivals and received awards for her performances. Before Dina, Hoda worked with many famous Egyptian belly dancers, most notably Sahar Hamdy and Nagwa Fou’ad. She is known the world over for her rendition of Taht I-Shibak / Under the Window, a folkloric song Dina has made a special part of her show.

The album contains two versions of 7 traditional folkloric songs; the original with a leyali and a mawwal, and a second shortened version ideal for performances. This is a must-have for anyone who enjoys authentic traditional Egyptian music.