A1. Ramadan In Space Time
A2. Dawn
A3. Neveen
B1. Egypt Strut
B2. Oriental Mood
B3. Kleopatra
B4. Mervat
Salah Ragab - Conducting, Piano, Drums, Congas
Zaky Osman - Trumpet, Flute
Mohammad Abdou - Trumpet
Ibrahim Wagdy - Trumpet
Khalifa El Samman - Trumpet
Mahmoud Ayoub - Trombone
Sadeek Basyouny - Trombone
El Sayeed Dahroug - Trombone
Abdel Atey Farag - Bass Trombone
Mohammad Abdel Rahman - Bass Tuba
El Saied El Aydy - Alto Sax
Farouk El Sayed - Alto Sax
Saied Salama - Tenor Sax & Baritone Sax
Fathy Abdel Salam - Tenor Sax
Abdel Hakim El Zamel - Baritone Sax
Khmis El Khouly - Piano
Moohy El Din Osman - Bass
Abdel Hamid Abdel Ghaffar - [Toto], Nay, Bamboo Flute
Sayed Ramadan - Bongos & Baza [Ramadan Drum]
Sayed Sharkawy - Drums
'Drummer and multi-instrumentalist Salah Ragab was a central figure in the history of jazz in Egypt. A sometime collaborator with Sun Ra, Ragab founded the Cairo Jazz Band in 1968, the same year that he became the head of the Egyptian Military Music Department. The Cairo Jazz Band was Egypt's first big band, mixing American jazz with North African music, combining jazz instrumentation and musical style with indigenous melodies and instruments, like the nay (bamboo flute) and the baza (ramadan drum). Such musical cross-fertilization was not unusual in itself; American musicians from Sun Ra to Yusef Lateef had long been fascinated by the music of Islam and North Africa, incorporating both the instruments and musical forms of the Fertile Crescent into their work. But Salah Ragab’s music presents a topsy-turvied perspective, a view from the other side of the musical equation of West meets Middle East.
More importantly, however, The Cairo Jazz Band seriously swings. While there have been some tantalizing tidbits from Ragab available in the past, such Sun Ra Arkestra Meets Salah Ragab in Egypt. this reissue is the first time such a wide variety of Salah Ragab and the Cairo Jazz Band's music has been made available outside Egypt. Collecting material from 1968-73, Egyptian Jazz is published by the UK imprint Art Yard, who have hitherto exclusively released an outstanding series of vinyl-only Sun Ra recordings. It's no surprise, then, that there's much here to appeal to Sun Ra aficionados, but with songs like the swaggeringly cocksure 'Egyptian Strut' and blow-outs like the scorching “Ramadan in Space Time” and the ultra-groovy “Neveen,” this record more than stands on its own. As head of the Egyptian Military Music Department, Ragab had access to some of Egypt's finest instrumentalists, and he drew deep from this pool of musical talent. The ensemble playing is top-notch throughout and there are stand-out solos on flute, sax, and keyboards, notably on the percussion-heavy Neveen.' ~ dusted
'These recordings present Salah Ragab and The Cairo Jazz Band's definitive work, recorded in Heliopolis, Egypt between 1968 and 1973. Western Jazz musicians have been fascinated with the world of Islam for many years, for religious - spiritual, musical and sociological reasons. It was therefore inevitable that musicians of the Arabian North African area would play a part in the interaction of these two Musical Cultures. The compositions correspond to the cross over of musical styles at the time of the recording, 5000 miles away across the Mediterranean and Atlantic in New York with releases on Moodsville by Yusef Lateef and RCA by Ahmud Abdul-Malik.
This record represents The Cairo Jazz Band responding to the American Jazz scene of the 60's and 70's with influences from Mongo Santamaria to Randy Weston and Sun Ra. These tracks were first presented by The Ministry Of Culture in Cairo as a Prism Music Production and released with an additional disk by the composer Soliman Gamil "Musical Images". This release marks the first time Salah Ragab and The Cairo Jazz Band's definitive works are presented to the west.' press hype
a quick search reveals this woefully out of print collection was previously dropped by the peerless orgy in rhythm bloggy, but has since expired. i didn't acquire this folder from there as i only discovered that spot a few months ago & therefore have no way to verify whether it's their rip, but i have my suspicions & ya know how the good chit gets passed around. big shout out to dem kids regardless. at one point i had no interest in jazz & mostly agreed with hazrat inayat khan's assertion that it overwhelms & ultimately farkles the senses. he & i were likely just hearing the wrong chit cuz this schtuff smokes. i have long since been converted & redeemed. 320 salaams to the original illuminator
