Yasmina of Cairo’s CDs

Yasmina is a British belly dancer who first settled in Cairo in 1995, becoming famous as “the English Rose of Cairo”.   Her CD’s are recorded by Yasmina’s own band, El Negoum (the Safaa Farid band).
The music on Yasmina’s CD’s is generally not available for download, and Yasmina’s CD’s are not sold on Amazon or in music stores.  Her focus is to provide music suitable for performance as well as being enjoyable to listen to.

Baladi w’bas is a comprehensive baladi selection.  The tracks range in length from a “one minute baladi” to a nine minute Cairo Jam, in a variety of styles.  A great CD if you are studying baladi and a wonderful resource for performers.  All lyrics are available from Yasmina on request.

Nawader means “precious things”.   It includes two tableaux especially designed for group performance. The first is Sherra el Fan, a baladi piece based on the idea of  musicians and dancers living on a street, with the dancers being invited to dance to the various instruments. The other is an Alexandrian beach tableau.   The album also contains five beautiful classic songs, a majensi, an instrumental number originally danced by Samia Gamal, a baladi track and two drum solos.

El Warda is so named after Yasmina herself (it means “the rose”).   Highlights include a baladi tableau of old songs with a nostalgic feel, a high-energy Saeedi tableau and modern catchy shaabi song (both original compositions), three classical Egyptian songs, a unique drum solo with instrumentation, and a modern reggaeton fusion.

Aheb Masr! – I love Egypt!
Opening music, a unique tribute to Samia Gamal, both composed by Reda Saad, and pop baladi with a twist, by Mounir Abdel-Aziz. Also favourite classics ‘Ala Hizboadad’ and ‘Ala Rimsh Eyounha’, a Nubian cocktail with an African drum solo, and a funky shaabi number. This CD features the vocal talents of five singers, each adding a different, very Egyptian flavour. Sleeve notes contain all the song lyrics translated to English.

 Heya di Yasmina (this is Yasmina)   features the talents of one of Cairo’s top percussionists, Negm. It contains a mix of classical, Saiidi and baladi songs, a unique tabla solo, and instrumental as well as vocal pieces. All the song lyrics have been translated into English.

Layali Yasmina was mostly recorded live and retains an immediate feel.  This CD includes opening music, both classical and lighter songs, and a baladi tableau made famous by legendary Egyptian dancer Naima Akef. Also a traditional baladi and drum solo. This is the new version with a bonus track featuring a medley of Ahmed Adaweya songs.