Lily of the Nile

Hamza El Din | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 31, 1995)
• Original Release Date: October 9, 1995
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Water Lily Acoustics
• ASIN: B000002VY8
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #154,922 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #5 in Music > World Music > Africa > Sudan
  • #36 in Music > World Music > Africa > Egypt
  • #93 in Music > Indie Music > World Music > Africa

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Performance, Great Engineering, July 25, 2009

By 

Dr. Debra Jan Bibel "World Music Explorer" (Oakland, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Lily of the Nile (Audio CD)

I recall the day when Nonesuch Explorer, then a new label, issued Escalay, the Water Wheel. We were all agog at the oud playing and the deep spiritual feel of the music. While Eclipse remains my favorite recording of Hamza el Din, chiefly because of the inclusion of tracks where he plays the tar frame drum, this album from Water Lily is highly worthwhile because of its superb engineering and because of the powerful improvisations. I was fortunate to hear Hamza play in an intimate setting, and this recording well matches that experience. As you listen to the album, you will hear hints of Escalay in the second track and hear Hamza sing on the third track. The longest track is Allah Hu Akbar, which is a religious meditation that begins again with the Escalay tune and rhythm. The final track, Hamayala, of which another performance appears on the JVC album, is a drum track in which Hamza again sings.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, meditative music, June 19, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Lily of the Nile (Audio CD)

Hamza el Din is from Nubia, where Africa and Egypt meet. He's probably the best living player of the oud, the Arabic instrument that was the ancestor of the European lute (that standby of Renaissance popular music). This album showcases his amazing artistry on the oud, as well as his meditative vocals, and it's wonderful music for a warm summer evening when I'm imagining I'm back in Aswan (sigh). But a friend who bought the album for belly dance practice was disappointed: the only track you can dance to is the final one, where el Din wakes you up again with a peppy drum and vocal number.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great by Hamza El Din, July 16, 2005

By 

HOT MIX "karenkellock" (Southwest Desert) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lily of the Nile (Audio CD)

I love the simplicity of just the oud and the unique voice of Hamza El Din. I recommend all his albums for true natural esoteric which is simultaneously both primitive and elegant.