Cairo Moon

This exciting album is rooted in a rich Middle Eastern soundscape. It's performed by a Canada-based quartet of musicians hailing from Egypt, Greece, Iran and Canada, who capture the passionate hustle and bustle of Egyptian coffee house culture – indeed, Al Qahwa translates as ‘The Coffee House.’ They draw from a diverse repertoire including originals, Sufi devotional pieces and songs from the golden age of Egyptian cinema.

Lead vocalist Maryem Tollar sings in both Arabic and English. A surprising track is ‘Little Lamb’, in which she sings William Blake's ‘The Lamb’ accompanied by Arabic instruments. While such daring experiments can risk sounding superficial and crass, Tollar has the cultural grounding and rare talent to experiment in a tasteful manner. Al Qahwa make use of diverse instruments such as ney, qanun, oud, saxophone, violin and daf, culminating in busy, urgent harmonies; and along with Tollar's melismatic vocals the quartet evoke the yearning, ecstatic tarab of Oum Kalthoum. Al Qahwa's virtuosity shines through on ‘Sama'i Blues’, which incorporates subtle jazz favours and benefits greatly from the presence of guest violinist Dr Alfred Gamil. It is a thrilling listen.