Cairo Steps Concludes Egypt Tour With Outstanding Performance

Musical group Cairo Steps concluded their tour in Egypt after throwing 4 sold out concerts, in Cairo and Alexandria, with exceptional performance.

The group performed distinguished tunes, the most important of which are Shams, Saidi, Arabiskan, Amber, Cafe Groppi, Siwa, Sanctum, Khaleeji, and Gnossienne No.1 with the prominent Sufi vocalist Ihab Younes.

The band, led by its founder, the oud player Basem Darwisch, has relied this year on offering different distributions for his tunes, giving them a new spirit, in cooperation with several major opera musicians, including conductor George Kotla, Mohamed Saad Pasha, Stephen Simon as well as Rafik Gamal, and the Orchestra Conductor Nayer Nagui.

"I am trying to revive the culture of listening to live music, which the new generation is missing by relying mostly on recorded DJ music," he said. Darwisch added: "Every party I do is completely different from previous ones, Last year, I added a show with the Cairo Ballet Company and a background video accompanying a concert held alongside Culture Minister Enas Abdel Dayem."

"I was preparing for this concert for nearly a year, and made myself the final stage of it. I love taking care of its details, starting with the lighting, colors, background, location of each musician, the final form of the band on the stage as well as rehearsals, and collaborations with top musicians," he mentioned.

The international 'oud' player noted that he did not fancy people who call his group the Egyptian German Group. "Abroad, I am proud of it as an Egyptian group, and I seek to increase its Egyptian authenticity," he noted.

The group this year presented a new arrangement for "Olé Cairo", which includes a Spanish color mixed with Egyptian and a solo piano essential for Rami Atallah.

Also, the rababa was added for the first time through the instrumentalist Mahmoud Shaker, in a plan to involve more Egyptian instruments.

Cairo Steps blends traditional Egyptian and oriental grooves with modern jazz improvisation. Influenced by spiritual ethnic music and the traditional European one.

The ensemble shifts between unison rhythms, virtuoso solos, and meditative soundscapes creating a unique harmonious sequence.

The distribution of melodies depends on mixing cultures through the blending of traditional instruments with western ones in an evident competition between the 'oud' and the guitar, the piano and the accordion with the overlapping of the Qanun and the drums.

The ensemble toured as many as 22 countries performing their unique Sufi jazz genre.

They released five albums including Silk Road in 2004, Oud lounge in 2007, Arabiskan in 2014, Gnossienne No. 1, and the Flying Carpet in 2017, which won the German Jazz Awards that year.