A Time of Peace by the Brothers of the Baladi
Reviewed by Anala Rabari
This CD is great Middle Eastern arrangements of 15 classic Christmas carols. I felt the instrumentation was very inventive, but the songs retain the feeling of ancient music. They did a great job of mixing traditional Middle Eastern rhythms in the bridges of some of the songs such as “O, Little Town of Bethlehem,” "Little Drummer Boy", and "The First Noel." The song choices are a great selection of tempos and moods and the liner notes do a great job of explaining the instruments both by their name and a simple definition of what that instrument is for people who may not be knowledgeable of Middle Eastern instruments. This is the perfect CD if you are looking to make a performance more relevant for Winter parties and the songs are great lengths for performance purposes as well, all but one song is under 4:00 minutes. I think this CD would make a great addition to any dancers library. "Joy to the World" is my lest favorite track, but that's because I'm not a fan of the Zurna (a double reed Turkish Folk Oboe). Some of my favorite songs are: "We Three Kings," "O Little Town of Bethlehem," and "Silent Night."