Egyptian composer, singer and oud player Shady Moanes is preparing his second album under the working title 'Forook Tawkit' (Time Differences), in which he will collaborate with some of the country's most prominent musicians.

"The album will include a variety of musical forms, whether orchestral, jazz or traditional takht and sufi, in addition to other forms where the oud will be the lead instrument," the founder of Hekayat band told Ahram Online on Sunday.

"The album aims to be different than typical oud albums where a track mainly consists of a main melody and some 'Takasim' solos. The album will be based on the idea of visualising a picture, situation or scene," he explained.

In addition to collaborating with his favourite music producer and arranger Rafik Adly in some of the new project's pieces, Moanes will also cooperate with Gramy Award winner sound engineer Alaa El-Kashef.

Adly produced Moanes' first album ''Tufranil', released this year, in addition to some singles the oud-master composed for himself and for others including prominent singer Ali El-Haggar.

A concert at the Opera

Moanes is gearing up with his band Hekayat to perform a concert at the Small Hall of the Cairo Opera House on Thursday 26 September.

"This is the second concert for 'Tufranil' where I will also play some new tracks including one written by Micheal Adel entitled 'Mesh Basallem' and others by poet Ahmed Shabala," Moanes revealed to Ahram Online.

Moanes will also perform 'Bedon Enzr', Kelmtein L-Masr and 'Tufranil' written by talented poet Mostafa Ibrahim, in addition to 'Kol Ma Tigy' by Hekayat vocalists Dina Salem, who will be accompanied by Nouran Adly and Omar El-Sakka.

Among the musicians confirmed for the concert are accordionist Beshoy Shenouda, pianist Mohamed Abdallah, keyboardists Mohamed Hamdy Raouf and violinist Ayman Asfour, percussionist Ahmed Bebo, in addition to Ahmed Momtaz on ney and Ahmed Ewis on the contrabass.

Founded by Moanes in 2009, Hekayat band, who are known for their oriental covers of Sayed Darwish and Sheikh Imam, have given a series of successful performances at various halls in Cairo, including the British Council and the Egyptian Museum.

Moanes, the Bait El-Oud graduate, co-founded the famous Eskendrella band with Hazem Shahin, who gained widespread fame in the early 2010s.

Programme:
Thursday 26 September, 8PM
Small Hall, Cairo Opera House, Cairo

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture