Egyptian-German ensemble Cairo Steps collected the presigious Jazz Music Award in Berlin on 19 April, along with German band Quadro Nuevo, for their joint album Flying Carpet. Egyptian Minister of Culture Ines Abdel-Dayem, who is also a flautist, joined Cairo Steps at the ceremony as one of the prize recipients. Dayem often joined the ensemble as a guest of honour and participated in Flying Carpet before taking up her post as minister. The ensemble performed with Abdel-Dayem on flute at the award ceremony, which was held at the Berlin Philharmonie concert hall. Egyptian Ambassador to Germany Badr Abdel Aty attended the event, together with many German and Egyptian musicians and an audience of around 1,200 people. Cairo Steps is an international Sufi-jazz world-music ensemble consisting of German and Egyptian musicians, founded in 2002 by Egyptian oud player Basem Darwish and German pianist Matthias Frey. The ensemble's musical director is jazz pianist and conductor Sebastian Müller-Schrobsdorff. Quadro Nuevo is a German acoustic quartet founded in 1996, known for performing world music and jazz. The band is composed of Robert Wolf, Mulo Francel, D.D. Lowka, Andreas Hinterseher and Evelyn Huber who joined in 2008. For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture
