 The Brothers of the Baladi was formed by band leader/percussionist/vocalist Michael Beach in Yuma, Arizona in 1975 to back up local Belly Dancer Zamara.Beach, who had fallen in love with the sounds of the Arabic, Turkish, Greek, and Persian music in Zamara's collection of cassette tapes and LPs, initially began accompanying the tapes on a hand drum, but soon recruited Colby Girard, Joshua Mertz and Pete Walter to try to emulate the music with a mix of doumbek, bongos, dulcimer, 12-string guitar, recorder, and clarinet.The band got its name when, one night as Zamara was being introduced by El Hakim (Josh Mertz), he spontaneously introduced the band as "The Brothers of the Baladi."