She gives a new twist to an old instrument. Sayed Mahmoud listens to the tunes of Nesma Abdel-Aziz At the small theatre in the Opera House, Nesma Abdel-Aziz is enchanting her audience. Her interpretations of Egyptian popular tunes by the likes of Baligh Hamdi, Kamal El-Tawil and Mohamed Abdel-Wahab have turned her into a household name. But this hasn't always been the case. Abdel-Aziz, who last month obtained a masters degree from the Higher Institute for Music Conservatoire, started out with the Omar Khayrat Band. In 2001 she decided to strike out on her own, putting together her own band. This is the band you can see performing with Abdel-Aziz in various video clips including Tico Tico and Fuoga. The woman who made marimba popular in Egypt can now look back with satisfaction at her career. "Before I came along, Egyptians used to confuse the xylophone and the marimba. Few know that the marimba was originally an African instrument, although it is not hard to guess the origin when you listen to the marimba at concerts or in jazz numbers, or even to Latin American music." Although the marimba existed for years in the philharmonic orchestra, it was Abdel-Aziz's talent that made the public notice it. "Perhaps the fact that I worked along with a very popular artist, Omar Khayrat, is what helped me connect with the audience. Khayrat made the marimba very central to some of his popular pieces." This is not to say that Abdel-Aziz is now too much of a star to perform with the Khayrat Band. She says she cannot stop working with Khayrat. "He is a great artist who attacks the mediocrity of pop and commercial music with his exquisite take on classical music." The audience in the Opera House is swooning as Abdel-Aziz turns out one playful tune after another. The repertoire is known to everyone in the small hall: " Ya Wad Ya Teqil (Tough Cookie)" by Kamal El-Tawil, " Ana Kull Maqul Al-Toba (Every Tie I Repent)" by Baligh Hamdi, and " Ahsan Nas (Best People)" by Samir Habib. I later learnt that this was her birthday. So the delightful performance had an inward aspect to it, I suspect. Abdel-Aziz ends the concert with the crowd pleaser " Enta Omri (You Are My Life)" by Mohamed Abdel-Wahab. But the real surprise on stage is a new instrument, at least at the Opera House. The rango, a smaller version of the marimba, is played by two of its veteran performers: Haj Hassan and Haj Sayed. The rango was known in the Eastern Desert and in Sinai and the Suez Canal zone until the mid-20th century. It was all set to become extinct until it was revived by the Port Said- based Tanboura band. Abdel-Aziz was pleased to perform with the rango duet. "I was introduced to the rango through Zakaria Ibrahim, founder of Tanboura, who wanted to see what I could do with it. Consequently, I composed new musical pieces using the five-stop scale of African music. It would have perhaps been hard for an opera audience to be introduced to this new music all of a sudden. So I blended it with the familiar marimba tunes." Abdel-Aziz is biased towards oriental music. "Although my study at the Conservatoire focussed on Western music, I have been a lover of oriental music since my childhood. I love the songs of Um Kalthoum and Abdel-Halim Hafez. So when I started performing professionally, I always chose an oriental theme that could lend itself to the marimba, which the audience seems to love." Abdel-Aziz has appeared in concerts in various parts of the world, and says she has to choose her pieces carefully for every occasion. "An audience differs from one place to another and from one concert to another," she says. "The Western audience is familiar with the marimba. But it is shocked when a professional player starts performing oriental music on that instrument, introducing things like the quarter tone that doesn't exist in Western music. That's why I tend to fuse oriental music with Western techniques when I perform to a Western audience. In Egypt, the audience likes light music and loves to hear old tunes rearranged in a different form. I am lucky to have a supportive audience wherever I go." With a smile of nostalgia, Abdel-Aziz remembers her time as the new face on stage, how the audience used to refer to her as the "cute girl" on the xylophone. "Now the audience calls out to me by name and comes to my concerts. I am no longer the cute, nameless girl." Abdel-Aziz has released several video clips, and says they have added to her popularity. "The video clip made me recognisable to a larger audience, especially the Arab audience, who first see the video clips and then start buying my albums." Abdel-Aziz says the experience of performing with top Egyptian singer Mohamed Mounir, was thrilling. "This was a very rewarding experience, and I am willing to repeat it with other singers as long as the music emphasises the potential of the marimba," she says. The music scene grows with every new venue that opens. "I am the daughter of the Opera, but I am excited to see other venues, such as Al-Sawy Cultural Wheel and the Genena Theatre, bringing in new and knowledgeable audience." At present, Abdel-Aziz is teaching at the Conservatoire and performing at the Opera House. She is also thinking of working as a music programme presenter on OnTV, the new television channel owned by Naguib Sawiris. "I don't consider myself a professional television host, although I studied for three years at the Media College before I started studying music full time. But it is a wonderful experience. I presented a programme on Al-Mehwar TV about the Opera House, and now I am working on a programme called Dozina. It is a show that introduces new musical bands, a very exciting thing as far as I am concerned, because I am quite interested in what's new on the music scene."
