Cairo Steps and German quartet Quatro Nuevo have released a new video in which they play their 2017 composition Shams (“Sun”), with each musician filming separately in their own home.
The video was released on Cairo Steps' YouTube channel on 26 June with a note: "Music The Bonding Force – united in change. Cairo Steps and Quadro Nuevo together for a message: Where ever we are around the globe – we are sharing the same situation."
A total of 19 musicians from 10 cities participated in the endeavour, creating a musical network between Cairo, Alexandria, Munich, Berlin, Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, Riedenberg, Cologne and other cities.
Shams is from a 2017 album titled Flying Carpet which was born of a cooperation between Cairo Steps and Quadro Nuevo. The 12-track album is available on
SoundCloud.
Composed by Basem Darwisch, the new video features Darwisch on oud alongside Egyptian musicians Rageed William (on nay), Rami Attallah (piano), Wael El Sayed (accordion), violinists Emad Azmy, Shereen Azmy, Nehad Gamaledin and Shady Abdelsalam, Ragy Kamal (qanun), Jan Boshra (cello), Rafat Soka (req), Raafat Mohamed (drums), Hany El Sawaf (darbuka/tabla) and German musicians Mulo Francel (bass clarinet), Andreas Hinterseher (accordion), DiDi Lowka (double bass), Evelyn Huber (harp), Stefan Hergenröder (e-bass), and Wolfgang Wittemann (soprano saxophone).
Founded in 2002 as a collaboration between Egyptian oud player and composer Darwisch and German pianist Matthias Frey, throughout the years the Cairo Steps ensemble has performed extensively in Egypt and Germany, and on many other international stages.
Cairo Steps featured many prominent Egyptian musicians and created many dynamic cooperations between both countries. Frequent performers in Cairo, Cairo Steps have also featured flutist and currently culture minister Ines Abdel-Dayem in their concerts.
Cairo Steps brings together numerous music genres -- traditional Egyptian and oriental grooves, Sufi traditions, Western classical music, European ethnic music and jazz improvisation -- into one melting pot.
The final blend is a unique combination of compositions from Eastern and Western musical cultures.
In 2018, the album Flying Carpet was awarded the German Jazz Award Gold.
Cairo Steps and Quadro Nuevo quartet continue to perform together and they have numerous concerts scheduled in Germany for the months of September, October and November of this year.
German acoustic quartet Quadro Nuevo was founded in 1996 with the aim of performing world music and jazz.
According to information on Cairo Steps’ website, the band is scheduled to perform in Cairo in December, accompanied by the Cairo Opera Orchestra under the baton of Nayer Nagui.
Fans are advised to keep up to date on the details of the event through Cairo Steps’ website as it is unclear what coronavirus restrictions will then be in place.
One of the past Cairo Steps concerts held at the Cairo Opera House was among the most popular videos released by the culture ministry on its YouTube channel in April.
The concert was released shortly after the launch of “Culture Between Your Hands,” an initiative which kicked off with an aim to bring theatre performances, concerts and other cultural events to audiences online amid the shutdown of theatres, cinemas and concert halls due to the coronavirus.
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