El Tanbura are a collective of Egyptian musicians, singers, musicians, fishermen and Sufi philosophers from Port Said, at the Gateway to the Suez Canal. It’s devotional music, chanting and basic percussion though over time they have also incorporated some light folk melodies. The music remains quite stripped down, the throbbing heartbeat of hand drums underneath the tanbura and the simsimiyya which are both harp/ lute like instruments, the nay flute and the metallic rattle of the castanets. Their music harks back to a time before synthesizers, to an ancient form of Sufi worship – hence its stripped back nature reliant on group chant like vocals. The collective who formed in 1989 meet every wednesday night to sing, dance and play at one of the local cafes as self appointed guardians of a sound that technology has interrupted. Their music with its throbbing pulse and incredible often call and response grouped male vocals tends to become quite hypnotic after a while and you could imagine the tunes flowing on forever, with the tanbura and simsimiyya weaving in and out of each other in all manner of intricate patterns. There are real links to the sound of the Bedouin Jerry Can Band, so it comes as no surprise to discover that there is some cross pollination between groups. This collection of mens music from the Egyptian hash bars of days gone by, with their rough melodic and at times quite intricate vocals and highly rhythmic music is really something quite unique, one of the most fascinating and rewarding cultural experiences you can have on compact disc.
Bob Baker Fish
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