In front of Rasha was a huge upside-down bowl resting in a tub of water.
The Karabash, she said, was traditionally used in the kitchen, and after the women finished their work they turned it downwards like this.
“Then the party started.
And with those words, the party kept on going for the next hour and a half as Rasha and her band delivered a blend of traditional music, tinged with jazz, in packed venue Makan on Mansour Street in Mounira, Downtown.
The multi-rhythmic music, with clear Nubian, Sudanese, and other African influences, employed up to four percussionists at any one point. Other instruments were also playing rhythm roles as well, creating a smorgasbord of sound.
The songs varied quite dramatically. One featured Rasha – with her soft yet compelling voice – singing almost a cappella, with only a nai and occasional saxophone accompanying her. Around halfway through the concert, Makan players joined the group to make a nine-person ensemble which continued for the rest of the night.
There was also an interesting divergence in the crowd’s reaction. While some songs roused everybody, the Egyptian audience was distinctly more involved in the music, bobbing and head-nodding, clapping and even singing along, whereas a few of the foreign crowd could be spotted discretely nodding off.
The Spanish Embassy and Cultural Counselor Ramon Blackwell sponsored and organized this show in conjunction with Makan. They brought Rasha and her band from their homes in Grenada, Spain to Cairo several weeks ago, when they began practicing and rehearsing with Makan s musicians.
While all the people in Rasha’s band and the local Makan musicians are highly talented and moving, the nine-person ensemble suffered from an overabundance of sound and rhythm. The mélange of music made it difficult to hear the individual instruments and rhythms. This vague mix of sound gave the ensemble pieces a sense of being all the same and somewhat tedious.
This became all too clear when the ensemble paused and the nai and saxophone played a poignant duet together. The extemporary duet brought to mind flirting lovers, and the enthusiasm in the previously, rather sedate, crowd exploded. Unfortunately this coquettish duet swiftly returned to the large ensemble and the same crush of sound.
Rasha’s band is composed of Leonardo on saxophone, Otmare on percussion, Rasha on voice, and Wagir on accordion and lute. In the next couple days, Rasha and her band will play in several venues across Cairo, without the Makan musicians. It seems likely both extremely talented groups will be stronger without collaboration.
Rasha and her band will be performing a fundraising event at the Gezira Sporting Club in Cairo tonight and at El Geneina Theater in Al Azhar Park on Saturday, June 23.
