Edward and the Gypsies band at Vibe for Developing Arts studio (Photo: courtesy of Vibe for Developing Arts)
Following an over 20-year absence from the stage, Edward and the Gypsies band have announced their return to concert halls.
Though the announcement was preliminary, made in September on Egyptian television programme Al-Qahera Al-Youm, the move was confirmed last week by Mohamed Ghanem, the band's manager, events organiser and owner of Hi Wave.
Edward and the Gypsies promise to deliver several concerts in Egypt as well as an appearance in Dubai, UAE, at the beginning of 2019. Their repertoire will include a selection of their famous covers of Fayrouz, Dalida, and a few popular Rai songs.
Most recently, the band held a series of rehearsals at Cairo's Vibe for Developing Arts Studio, with some of the old members — Edward Fouad, Ahmed Adel, Wael Kheidr, Mohamed Sabah — and a few new musicians.
Established by guitarist Edward Fouad, the group gained wide popularity in mid-1990s with Laylo Laylo among their iconic hits and which was released as a video clip. The clip features band members with five guitars, accordeon and oriental drums as they fuse Oriental rhythms and Latin strokes, topped with Arabic lyrics and some sentences in Spanish.
Born in 1972, Edward comes from a musical family and performed alongside his father before launching his independent career. Following the popularity of the band, Egyptian director Osama Fawzi offered Edward a small role in his 2004 comedy drama I Love Cinema (Baheb El Sima) starring Layla Elwi, Mahmoud Hemeida and Menna Shalabi. He then began focusing on film, embracing bigger roles in over 40 films and television series.
Fouad remains active as an actor to date.
Edward and the Gypsies band in the 1990s. (Photo: Al Ahram daily)
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