Some music and chants in Egypt

Of all the things in Islamic countries, the one that i missed the most when i was in Europe was the call to pray five times a day. It actually took me sometime to realise what was it that made me feel different in the streets of Rabat or in a little town of the Draa valley. I know that i could make some point about the noise pollution introduced by so many mosques around the world, but i wont. It marks the rhythm of the day, it grounds the time in such an effective and beautiful way. The voices of the Mohaicins (the ones that call to pray) are filled with emotion, and that feeling soaks every alley way, every street, every town, every city of the Muslim world. It is a daily reminder of our human condition, that we are tiny in comparison with the Universe that we are living in, that our power is negligible in comparison with that of nature. In here i post a verse of the Holy Qur2an sung by a Sheij:

http://omoniak.ath.cx:8888/af_nono/114.mp3

And an islamic chant of a more romantic nature (as i was told):

http://omoniak.ath.cx:8888/af_nono/18.rm

My experience with music has not only been related directly to Islam, actually i have assisted to a multitude of concerts in Alexandria and Cairo. The African, Asian and Islamic influences give birth in this region to a great variety of styles. They are impossible to account for an egnabi like me, but here are some nice examples:

http://omoniak.ath.cx:8888/af_nono/mzmar.mp3

The percussion that makes me go mad, yalla al-tabla!!!

http://omoniak.ath.cx:8888/af_nono/tabla.mp3

And the sagrita, those known high pitch shouts that women perform, they remind me so much of traditional weddings in Islamic countries. You dont know what im talking about?

http://omoniak.ath.cx:8888/af_nono/sagrita.mp3

Apart of the modern anti-music of westerner influence (pretty girls/boys that show loads of skin during their stupid dances but they have not composed a single poem or a melody in their life) contemporary compositions flourish too nurtured by the aforementioned musical traditions, one of the most beautiful examples i found:

http://omoniak.ath.cx:8888/af_nono/secretlove.rm

And i was lucky enough to watch a professional Anun player in my own living room. Here i present the young local talent Amira, from Collage Band in Alexandria, playing a composition of the living legend Belal Hosni...The canabe ahmar crew is in tha house, and this is just the first day of rehearsal !!! wait to see the final version:


This traditional Egyptian instrument is one of the most complicated to play and difficult to master, but as u saw the beauty of its sound when in expert hands cannot be described with words. In here another clip from Amira accompanied by a Re (la pandereta de toda la vida), performing a melody of a known Turkish composer that i cannot spell:



And as a final comedy note, remember:

Kawalis Masr Project

The other day (Thursday) a very pleasant coincidence occurred... as i have been demanding continuously to be fed with Egyptian music, Bahz brought me a cd back home. It is the first compilation by a project called Kawalis Masr, or Egypt Backstage. This is a very interesting project, they use music done by musicians (meaning not just a pretty face singing commercial songs) and distribute it for free; the costs are covered by the publicity inserted in the funky looking booklet inside, a picture of the booklet is shown:

Immediately, i put the music on my computer, and i fell in love with one of the tracks called "Darabou El-Amar" or "they shoot the moon" from a band called Eskenderella (Alexandria in Arabic):

http://omoniak.ath.cx:8888/af_nono/DarabouElAmar.mp3

Now you might understand why i loved the song so much...minutes later, Balal came back home and he told me there was a free concert the following day (Friday) in the Jesuit Centre by...Eskanderella!!! I could not believe it :) Of course we went and the whole concert was simply amazing: the band is composed by a guy in the laud that sings too, a pianist, a percussionist with two djembes and two female singers:


After the concert, many of the people that assisted to it gathered in one of the classic meeting places in Alexandria, a cafe called Tugaria (sorprendentemente similar a tugurio :D). I met by chance some spanish people that i was due to meet since i arrived, but we never did...so was another nice coincidence. I met as well many interesting others that offered me their valuable help in my research. Apart of the people, i met another lovely cat, that loved me so much too. As soon as i got in the cafe i looked at him and smiled, then i went to sit for an important meeting with Haythem (one of the founders of the NGO), and oh surprise! the cat ran to me jumped on my lap meanwhile i talked :) He was so fixated with me that when later on i left my jacket on one of the chairs he jumped on it and dozed peacefully:


Once everyone was gone, Haythem and me stayed there until breakfast time (9am) talking about more potential projects within the NGO and funding possibilities in Egypt for other projects. Very productive and interesting meeting i have to say. In the way back home i took this picture in the seaside:


I really like the dissolving skyline...