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The Syrian-born singerGaida was immersed in the musical traditions of her homeland while growing upbut found her voice only after moving to New York City. On Levantine Indulgence, she sings in the passionately expressiveululations of the Near East, accompanied by a tinkling, percussive bandgenerally in tune with the emotions of her lyrics (an unfortunately indulgentbass solo aside). Although her digressions into bossa nova and 2 a.m. torchsongs sung in Arabic sound like the work of an uncertain young artist dabblingin new colors, she is commanding when performing music in a Near Eastern mode.
