Classical Egyptian Concert in Cairo

Last night I had a rare opportunity to attend a concert in the heart of Cairo. It was an amazing experience. The concert took place in a little outdoor square just east of the famous Khan al Khalili market. My driver let me and my escort off on the street bordering the east side of the market. We then walked southeast down many narrow streets with vendors and tiny cafes and juice bars to finally arrive at nice little square like an oasis in the city. I would have never found this place on my own (my Egyptian escort had to stop and ask for directions on several occasions) and I wonder how many tourists ever find it. I was apparently the only Westerner there last night!

The concert was by Nassir Shamma, a world-renowned oudist and virtuoso. Although, I didn't know this at the time. I learned about the possibility of hearing some traditional oud music from my friend in Berea. I forwarded his email with directions to the square to Basem and he, being the magician that he is, made it happen. As he told me just yesterday, everything is possible! :-)

My friend in Berea had told me the name of the musician, but it meant nothing to me. When I heard the oudist during sound check, I knew I was in for a real treat. I wrote to my dear friend, George, the oudist in my band, and told him who I had heard. He was extremely envious of me and told me that Nassir is one of the best known and most well respected oudists in the world. Wow!



I don't have model releases, so I can't post a close up of him, but this is the widest angle shot I have and because of that you can see the band, plus a little bit of the crowd and square. There was a nice breeze and it was quite pleasant to sit outside. However, even with the breeze, the cigarette smoke was choking at times--the Egyptians smoke as much, if not more, than the Spaniards!

It's hard to tell from the photo, but the group consisted of two violins, oud, cello, dumbek, rik and four singers.

I can't understand a word of Arabic and don't know any of the traditional/classical Arabic songs, but apparently they did renditions of many last night. I could see the crowd singing along with some of the songs and some, I was told, were Um Kalthoum's.

As you can perhaps tell by my writing, it was a magical evening for me. The only thing that would have/could have made it better was if Lea was able to go with me. It was a late event, starting around 10 p.m. The walk was uneven in dark narrow alleys. She would have had a difficult time getting there. Once there the seats weren't very comfortable and the smoke I already mentioned. It was a very good thing that she didn't try to go with me. I know she really wanted to but I think she made the right decision. Speaking of Lea, it's 8:53 p.m. now in Cairo and she's fallen asleep curled up with her book on her lap open the page she was reading. It's adorable. She's tired and we're still combating jet-lag.

Tomorrow, we go the pyramids! :-) This is exciting because we get to go with many of our friends, most who arrived today, as TOURISTS! The group trip (and our group work with Samuel) doesn't start until the 20th, so for a few days we get to all play together as tourists in Cairo! What a treat!

I'll post more later.

Thanks for reading my long ramblings and for visiting my Egypt blog.

As they say in Egypt, Salam Aliekom (goodbye)
Stuart