Ihsan Al-Munzer

• 2X CUT AT 45rpm

• GATEFOLD EDITION

In late 70s and early 80s Beirut, Lebanese organist, composer and arranger Ihsan Al-Munzer made a series of pioneering synth-driven fusion albums that reimagined Middle Eastern music. The records came at a pivotal time in Lebanon’s musical history of avant garde experimentation that was blossoming, just as the country’s 15-year civil war took hold.

Ihsan Al-Munzer’s first release as a solo artist, ‘Belly Dance Disco’ aimed to fuse ‘Western’ modern music and bellydance to make it more accessible to the local audience in the late 1970s. “I wanted to put a mixture of European beat with Arabic percussion, but I made the European rhythm and harmony very easy to listen to for the Arabic ear – soft and understandable” says Al- Munzer.

PERSONNEL:

• Ihsan Al Munzer - (bass, piano, organ, synthesizer)
• Gyno NASR - (drums)
• Nabil Ghazzawi - (guitar)
• Setrak - (tabla)
• Michael Baklook - (tamborine)
• Moh. Labban - (violin)

TRACKS:

• SIDE A
• A1. Girls Of Iskandariah
• A2. Night Entertainer
• A3. The Joy Of Lina

• SIDE B
• B1. Dance Of Tenderness
• B2. Jamileh

• SIDE C
• C1. A New Candle
• C2. Once A Year

• SIDE D
• D1. A Flower Of My Imagination
• D2. A Night At The Station
• D3. Love Of Laura