Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Cairo Steps Shines on Cairo Opera House Stage


Tue 03 Nov 2020 | 12:38 AM
Rana Atef

German/Egyptian Jazz group Cairo Steps shone brightly on Fountain Theater at Cairo Opera House for an hour ago. The concert was held as part of the 42nd Arabic Music Festival and Conference events.

Due to the restrictions of COVID 19, only Bassem Darwish succeeded in coming to Egypt and he teamed up with Cairo Opera Orchestra conducted by Nayer Nagui. The band released a live recorded performance of the "Maazofet Garden City" (Garden City) track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhSVSS7Pri4

Attended by the Culture Minister Dr. Enas Abdel Dayem, the band performed a number of its well-known hits. It opened the show by (Garden City). The song reflected a beautiful fusion between the western Jazz musical beats and the warmth of oriental music.

Next, it performed a melodic track called "Bokra" (Tomorrow), it is so catchy one with a breathtaking accordion solo.

After that, Darwish delivered a short statement. He thanked Abdel Dayem for attending the concert and making this edition of the festival possible to take place especially in the light of the return of the quarantine globally.

Then, the band performed a Sufi track featured celebrated Egyptian chanter Ali El Helbawy for performing "Arabiskan". This track gave the concert an emotional mystic atmosphere due to El Helbawy's outstanding performance.

Cairo Steps

After that, the band performed a number of its known such as "Saeidi" (A Man from Upper Egypt), "Anbar," and "Raqsa Min El Khaleg" (A Dance from the Gulf).

There were various solo performances that gained the audience's greetings by flute, rebab, percussions, accordion, and piano.

Furthermore, the band performed a new track entitled "Enferag" (Breakthrough). Darwish explained when he came to Egypt after a long period of quarantine in Germany especially he didn't perform at any concerts for 10 months so he wrote this song that carries hope.

"Enferag" is taken from Cairo Steps' upcoming album "Diwan Cafe" which includes 11 songs. Darwish announced that the band will release a new song monthly on Spotify. The first released song called "Ya Ellahy" (My God) featured El Helbawy, according to a released statement by Ministery of Culture.

In addition, the band finished filming its new music video "Dahab" shot in Saint Cathrine, Dahab, Taba, Nuweiba in Egypt.

Cairo Steps Live

Darwish revealed that the idea of the album came from the online meetings he had with the band members discussing the latest musical issues, the band members call their online meetings "Diwan Cafe." This album is special for them as it was recorded and performed virtually, according to the statement.

Cairo Steps was the first German band that participated in the Arabic Music Festival and Conference many years ago, and the band is still present in different festival events.

Arabic Music Festival and Conference‘s 29th edition takes place between 1 to 10 November.

The Festival’s activities take place on various venues including the Cairo Opera House different stages, Alexandria Opera House, and Damnhour Opera House.

Furthermore, the festival’s program carries 29 concerts, and the participation of 93 musicians mainly from 5 Arab countries: Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia, Iraq, and Jordan.