Rock the Tabla

Pay with

About Rock The Tabla

Product Description In celebration of ARC Music's 35 years of dedication to world music, Hossam Ramzy presents Rock the Tabla. 10 years in the making, this explosive musical journey brings together musical genius from all corners of the globe. Featuring world renowned artists including Oscar winner & Slumdog Millionaire composer A.R. Rahman, famed percussionist & drummer Billy Cobham, Manu Katche, Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Jimmy Waldo, Chaz Kkoshi, Phil Thornton, John Themis and others. Rock the Tabla is an album that is sure to get your feet tapping, heads nodding and body swaying to this diverse combination of electrifying rhythmic collaborations. Review After countless albums under his own name and guesting on other people's, the Egyptian percussionist comes out with something very high profile indeed. With people like jazz drummer Billy Cobham, Bollywood composer A. R. Rahman, and Turkey's Omar Tekbilek on board, it couldn't be anything less than stellar, and Ramzy has pulled out all the stops here. Although Egypt is at the core of everything, Rock the Tabla glides musically into many corners of the world, as on 'Cairo to India,' which brings two countries together quite naturally (as does the bonus cut, 'This Could Lead to Dancing,' which goes out on a glorious swirl of strings). In between, there's some stellar jazz-inflected material in 'Six Teens,' where Cobham offers a reminder of why he's so lauded, a pair of percussion duets (Egypt meets Japanese taiko drums and Egypt goes to Mali), and some Maghrebi pop on 'Sawagy.' The true highlight, however, is the title track, one of the best pieces of Arab rock to ever come out of a pair of speakers, with Tekbilek bringing the mizmar and a carefully unnamed guitarist who sounds suspiciously like a '70s icon (Ramzy worked on Page & Plant's Unledded), giving the tune some hard electric lines that really power it, and which might just be Ramzy's best composition to date. Unsurprisingly, all the percussion is mixed high, but not at the expense of everything else, and listening to the players is like attending a master class in musicality. It's certainly Ramzy's most inspired release in years. He's working with people he admires and who push him hard. The joy is hearing him -- and everyone else -- deliver. --All Music Guide, Chris Nickson So rarely in life we are given exactly what we want. For musicians those dream collaborations are just that dreams. Well, Hossam Ramzy , Egypt's Ambassador of Rhythm, got a whole CD worth of those dream collaborations for his Rock The Tabla CD out on the ARC Music label. And, we're taking collaborations with the likes of A.R. Rahman, Billy Cobham, Manu Katche, Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Jimmy Waldo, Chaz Khoshi, Phil Thornton, John Themis and Joji Hirota. That's a whole lot a dreams come true. If the collaborations are anything to go by Mr. Ramzy must have a fairy godmother in his closet or something. . . Rich and lushly worked, Rock The Tablaa opens with a combo of styles incorporating flamenco, Arabian and Greek influences with a dash of Cairo street music thrown in for good measure on 'Arabantana' before swinging into the slick and sassy 'Cairo to India' with A.R. Rahman at the keyboards. Arabic flash with jazzy overtones 'Six Teens' hits the spot with Billy Cobham on drums, Mr. Ramzy on Egyptian and world percussion, Ossama El Hendy on keyboards, sequencers and bass, Phil Thornton on e.bow guitars and Mohammed Ali on electric violin and oud. Other goodies include the sizzling 'Ancient Love Affairs' with Elhamy Ezzat on vocals, Jimmy Waldo on keyboards, sequencers and bass, Tim Pierce on guitar, the Hassm Ramzy String Ensemble as well as Mr. Ramzy himself, the kick ass percussion track 'Shukran Arigato' with Mr. Ramzy and Joji Hirota and the West African inspired 'Bluesy Flusey' with Mohammed Ali on electric violin and Sayed Al Hosseiny adding that special something on mizmar. 'Sawagy' is truly inspired with vocals by Houda El Sombaty and some fla