What would the Baron think, wonders Colette Kinsella Baron Empain, the Belgian visionary responsible for the founding of Heliopolis, is rumoured to have hated noise. Which is why, the story goes, his famous Heliopolis basilica located near his home has no bell tower. How ironic then, that his stunning residence last week played host to a festival of music featuring an eclectic mix of Egyptian and European artists. Fête de la Musique was held to mark World Music Day and featured the now popular local band Wist Al-Balad, as well as Sargent Garcia and French musician Gerard Sarhadian, alias DJ Haze. Based in Paris and Cairo, DJ Haze is a connoisseur of electronic music, recording an intriguing mix of sounds and overlaying these with the strains of live musicians. He has, in the past, sampled -- or recorded -- sounds from nature, even going so far as to download sounds from the NASA Web site of converted radio signals emitted by stars and other heavenly bodies. In an electronic music concert the DJ has centre stage, laying the thread of rhythm and tone for musicians to follow and last Thursday, 23 June, DJ Haze was accompanied by musicians from Lower Egypt. Gerard Sarhadian has been travelling to Cairo for more than four years "always accompanied by the best musicians of the Nile Delta", he asserts, on this particular occasion with a tabla player. The results were as stunning as the location itself. Wearing a baseball cap and shades and rocking energetically to the beat, the disc jockey deftly manipulated a double mixing desk, weaving techno rhythms expertly through into a 70s disco beat. With the audience crammed behind the barriers in front of the stage surging in unison to the music, the atmosphere was almost rave-like in its intensity, though sober and alcohol-free. The most curious element of the performance was the juxtaposition of the techno world and Egyptian heritage. Dressed in galabeyas and headdress and contrasting starkly with the DJ's modern coolness, the Delta musicians delivered an outstanding performance, with the traditional Arabic beats blending perfectly with the techno sounds. Techno music was born in Detroit in the 1980s, a marriage between 70s funk and the electronic sounds produced by bands such as Germany's Kraftwerk. The genre is about dance, with the emphasis on a strong electronic beat. The 90s saw artists in Europe playing with the techno idea, with the original beat metamorphosing into other genres such as acid and jungle. The regular rhythm provides a perfect base for the counterpoint of traditional Arab music, an idea which has been explored by Egyptian artists such as Amr Ismail. Haze trained as a jazz musician and is interested in the combination of the traditional with the modern. He is a well-known player on the Cairo scene, and has joined forces with other local artists such as Fathi Salama in venues such as the Cairo Jazz Club. His first album, Electric Cairo, is due for release soon by DJ Recordings, excerpts of which can be heard under www.hazybong.com
