A trio of Egypt s most exciting jazz talents were showcased Friday night in the first concert of Geneina Theatre s April program. Ideally located at the foot of Al-Azhar Park, Geneina s open-air stadium was the perfect venue for a balmy spring evening s entertainment. No surprise then it was full to capacity with jazz enthusiasts, eager to get an earful of Bayan Hala, Eftekasat and Ressala. Self-described as an oriental mixed jazz outfit, Bayan Hala, were the first of the three acts that took to the stage. Comprising nine members, including three guitar players, a drummer, keyboard player, two singers, and two Egyptian flutists, their style is nothing if not eclectic. They eased into their set with a mellow, jazzy number before navigating through some bluesier rock compositions, delivered in the group s distinctly Egyptian style. Threaded throughout their performance were strands of classic oriental and even flamenco, though the upbeat tone of their tunes belied the seriousness of their lyrics, which deal with issues like poverty and unemployment. There was more than a hint of flamenco in Eftekasat s succeeding act. This band of merry instrumentalists is currently in the ascension in Egypt, and based on this performance, it is not hard to see why. With supreme confidence their set broached a myriad of sounds and styles, spanning at least four decades of music. Within the parameters of oriental jazz, they touched on everything from discao to samba to electronica, all the while driven by the electric-violin playing of Mohammed Medhat. Like some funky, frizzy-haired snake charmer, his riveting solos time and again drew rapturous applause from the crowd. They may have been well warmed by the end of Bayan Hala s set, but by the time Eftekasat left the stage, they were electrified Eftekasat proved a hard act to follow, but that alone did not account for Ressala s ultimately disappointing performance. It was not so much the quality of their music that let them down, than the disjointed nature of its delivery. Nour Ashour s impressive sax solos however deserve honorable mention. For the most part the evening s fare was as encouraging for Egyptian music as it was enjoyable. With such accomplished performances and original sounds, you suspect that if Egypt s music industry had the resources of its Western counterparts, bands like EfteKasat would have made their break some time ago. In fact, given the volume of sub-par European and American acts boasting lucrative contracts, Egypt s emerging talents might look like a good investment to industry scouts willing to take note. For those who attended this concert, at least, it was a great investment of their time.
