There’s only one thing that keeps you in Cairo Jazz Club for longer than you’d allow yourself to be gassed by smoke. And that, no doubt, is the music that lingers long into the night.
A musical evening last week started off almost an hour later than the appointed time of 10:30 pm. Percussionist Ahmed Aly’s tabla seamed into another recorded track, as if picking up where the other band’s song left off.
He was soon joined by other instruments from the rai ensemble, Sahra.
Sahra, literally “desert, welcomes you to wakefulness, and its manifold turns enchant you further and further in to the night.
The first set was composed of instrumental music that drew the crowd as they turned their chairs towards the band and started gathering around.
Following a short break, the second set unleashed the power of Sahra.
The ensemble is a strong set of professional musicians, confidently in tune with each other’s nuances, maintaining eye contact with and cheering each other. Frequently, violinist Mohamed Medhat (from popular jazz band Eftekasat) turned around to cheer the percussionist Aly as lead singer Ahmed Ezz clapped along to the beat.
The Rai Train was formed in 2001 when singer and keyboardist Ahmed Wahsh called up Saied Abdel Rahman about starting a rai band. Their love of the form translated into covers of the commercial music of the likes of Cheb Khaled and Cheb Mami.
Medhat has been a member since the early days. With people coming and going, the current line-up of the seven-member band was originally formed in 2004. It was then, also, that the band started composing original pieces; foremost among them was called “Sahra.
“I’ve loved rai since 1990 – that’s when [Cheb Khaled’s smash hit song] ‘Didi’ came out, Medhat told Daily News Egypt. “Everyone in Egypt loved him since that time.
“In 1998, there was a big concert with Cheb Khaled, Cheb Faudel, and Rafik Tahaa, recalls Medhat, “By that time it was the peak of rai music. When Ahmed Wahsh told me he was establishing a rai band, I agreed to join without thinking.
What we hear today is not the original rai music, said Medhat, about the musical movement that started among Bedouin shepherds, mostly women, in the 1930s. Literally rai, which means opinion, music sought to blend traditional and modern movements in culture and music.
Rai singers are frequently titled “cheb, meaning young. Although the night was dedicated to Cheb Mami, the performed music contained many requested numbers from Cheb Khaled.
Sahra skillfully isolated the rock elements at the very start, so that “Sidi Mansour opened like your typical rock song, then blended into Arabic melodies “Allah, Allah ya Baba, Sidi Mansour ya Baba.
In fact this skilful opening allowed them to add novelty and surprise to even the more famous tunes. As they slowly teased out familiar numbers, audiences felt they had created the music simply by recognizing it.
The ongoing charm of tunes like “Aisha and “Didi worked their magic on the crowd that willfully succumbed to singing along and dancing.
A band for five years now, Sahra came out with their first album in April this year. The album and their first song share the same name as the band, “Sahra.
The band has also earned a role in a movie tentatively set to be released in Eid El-Adha, called “El-Wattar (String) starring Ghada Adel. Medhat revealed that Sahra will be appearing in three scenes in the film.
Two Sahra tracks, “Sahra Wayaki and “Desertology, will also be played in the movie. Parts of the movie were also shot in the downtown music club After 8, a regular haunt of the band who plays at the venue every Thursday night.
Sahra also received exposure in a recent documentary about local bands.
Besides their movie appearance, Medhat expects that having a music video will increase the band’s popularity, allowing them to break into a more international market.
“Most of the people who like our music are not Egyptians, said Medhat, and having a music video out would target listeners that want more music like that produced by Algerian counterparts Cheb Mami and Cheb Khaled.
The set at the Cairo Jazz Club ended with originals by Sahra, yet their songs deviate from the political subjects of their Algerian counterparts. “We talk about everything – it’s not really political; it’s just about love, and someone who wants to spend his life with his love, says Medhat. “‘Samra’ is a song about a man describing his Turkish girlfriend.
Sahra sees itself going onward with its music. “Other bands want to be commercial so people change direction to be more popular. We’ll be continuing in this direction. We wouldn’t change anything in our music.
Sahra will perform at the Sawy Culture Wheel on Aug. 11. They also perform every Thursday, 10 pm, at Downtown’s After 8.
