Music from the East

Ammar El Sherei (AKA Omar El Shariyi), born in Upper Egypt in 1948, was considered a pioneer in the 1970s Cairo music scene for his innovative combination of early electronic synthesizers and contemporary Arab music. Originally trained in piano, oud and composition, El Sherai cultivated a reputation performing in bars and clubs, eventually becoming an extremely prolific composer for film and television. His experiments in non-western electronic music even became such that Yamaha consulted with him about integrating quarter-tones into their synthesizers. Music from the East is the first vinyl reissue of El Sherai’s sought-after 1976 album, on which he fuses his characteristic Steelphon S900 and Farfisa organ with the compositions of Mohamed Abdel Wahab. Underpinned by both Egyptian and Western percussion, and with El Sherei’s precise and decorative keyboard melodies blending with mellifluous violin, the arrangements form a perfect cross-section between Arab music and 70s funk/blues. A loving reissue of a lost classic, which cements El Sherei’s position as a true innovator of Arab electronic music.