"Egyptian Danza" is a composition by Latin jazz-fusion guitarist

Al Di Meola Albert Laurence Di Meola (born July 22, 1954) is an American guitarist. Known for his works in jazz fusion and world music, he began his career as a guitarist of the group Return to Forever in 1974. Between the 1970s and 1980s, albums such as ' ...

. He first recorded it in 1977 for his album ''

Casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

'' and also recorded live in Philadelphia in February 1982. It later appeared on his 1994 album '' Essence of Al Di Meola''. Heavily influenced by Contemporary Egyptian music and

Ancient Egyptian music Music has been an integral part of Egyptian culture since antiquity in Egypt. Egyptian music had a significant impact on the development of ancient Greek music, and via the Greeks it was important to early European music well into the Middle A ...

, the distinctive exotic middle-eastern mystical sound and atmosphere of the piece comes from the C-sharp

Phrygian dominant scale In music, the Phrygian dominant scale is the fifth musical mode, mode of the minor scale#Harmonic and melodic minor, harmonic minor scale, the fifth being the dominant (music), dominant.Dave Hunter (2005). ''Play Acoustic'', San Francisco: Backbe ...

, which is composed from the fifth degree of an F-sharp

harmonic minor scale In music theory, the minor scale is three scale patterns – the natural minor scale (or Aeolian mode), the harmonic minor scale, and the melodic minor scale (ascending or descending) – rather than just two as with the major scale, which als ...

. When Di Meola performs it live the piece is characterised by muting at the top of the fretboard in parts and by very fast sporadic picking. Although he performs the piece on an electro acoustic guitar parts of the piece are played as on an electric guitar. It features violins and Latin

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...

s in the background. The original album recording featured

Mingo Lewis James "Mingo" Lewis (born 8 December 1953) is an American percussionist and drummer who played with Santana, Al Di Meola, Return to Forever (he was a band member for Di Meola's first five albums), and The Tubes. Playing Lewis plays congas, bong ...

References

External links

* * {{authority control 1977 songs Al Di Meola songs