Cairo Steps; Cairo Jazz Festival's closing surprise

CAIRO - 16 September 2018: Cairo Steps, the German- Egyptian ensemble, will feature in Cairo Jazz Festival's closing on Oct. 14 in the American University in Cairo.

This concert will be their first after their big Jazz Music Award win last April for their latest joint Album with the German band Quadro Nuevo, “Flying Carpet”. Basem Darwisch, the ensemble’s founder and composer, is the first Oud player to win this prestigious prize in Egypt and the Arab world.

Cairo Steps broke the records of album selling as “Flying Carpet” sold more than 10,000 copies in Germany alone, 5,000 in Egypt and 3,000 in different regions in Europe. The awarding institution celebrated this achievement by a special golden Vinyl LP, especially with the album approaching 20,000 sellers and getting the Platinum shield.

Amro Salah, the pianist, music composer and the festival head, stated that Cairo Jazz Festival aims to present an international musical and cultural event that contributes in enhancing tourism in Egypt by hosting international stars. He also added that he is proud to have Cairo Steps in the festival after the well-deserved win in Germany.
Cairo Jazz Festival presents 20 different concerts of artists from 14 different countries. Among the most prominent Arab representations are the Syrian Lynn Adib, Nouran Abu Taleb, Hawidro band and Baghdadi Big Band.

The festival also includes European Jazz stars like the Portuguese Rita Maria, the Austrian David Helbock and the Czech Dan Bárta, in addition to the Hungarian star Ester Fakaza, the significant Jerome Klein from Luxemburg and Aki Rissanen from Finland.