El-Waziry band invites you to fly with them at El-Mastaba

CAIRO – 10 January 2018: Celebrating El-Tanbura band’s 30th birthday, El-Mastaba Center for Egyptian Folk will be hosting the Egyptian band “El-Waziry” to hit the stage, performing their folk music. The performance will be accompanied by the player Adel Khudair playing on Sesameia musical instrument on Thursday, January 11.

El-Waziry band (previously El-Suhbagiyya band) was founded by the late prominent Egyptian musician Mohamed El-Waziry, who is known as “King of Simsimiyya” music.

El-Waziry and Zakaria Ibrahim had a dream that came true, which is reviving the music that once emerged in Port Said, by gathering the retired Suhbagiyya and presenting a weekly folk music performance in Ismailia.

Simsimiyya is mostly played by Bedouins as a social instrument. Historically, it used to be played during a dance called Bambutiyya, as well as among the musicians called Suhbagiyya, in cities such as Port Said and Ismailiyya. The exact origins of the Simsimiyya are still unknown.

According to the official biography of the El-Tanbura band, the group consists of a collective of proficient Egyptian master musicians, singers, fishermen and philosophers based in Port Said. For almost two decades they have been the guardians of some of Egypt's oldest folk melodies in Port Said, the Mediterranean gateway to the Suez Canal.