Cairo Free Jazz Ensemble
If there ever was a truly global musical language, it is hard to find a better example than jazz. First emerging from African American communities during the early years of the 20th century, by the 1920s, unique, indigenous forms began appearing in every corner of the globe, endlessly encouraging artists from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and sets of experience to come together in song over the last century.
While idioms of jazz from countries like the United States, France, Germany, The Netherlands, England, and Japan have received plenty of attention and acknowledgement over the years, countless other unique visions of this music have remained widely overlooked. One of the best examples is none other than the Cairo Free Jazz Ensemble from Egypt, whose lone LP, Heliopolis, has remained one of the great holy-grails for collectors since it was first released in 1970.
An absolute stunning piece of work with few parallels from the region, at long last it is receiving its first ever official reissue, via the always amazing Holidays Records.
A total revelation that draws the ear toward the unsung history of global jazz, this record is just as killer as they come. An ecstatic, immersive force of joyful sound. We can’t thank Holidays enough for bringing this one back, 50 years after it first emerged.
Issued as a fully remastered, deluxe edition, with a beautiful booklet, we couldn’t possibly recommend it enough.
