El Tanbura

The El Tanbura Ensemble from Port Said is a great group of Egyptian Folkloristic music. The group was created in early 1989, with the objective of bringing back to life the almost dead folk and indigenous popular songs performed in the past by the Port Saidis and other Egyptians descending from the Suez Canal area. After many years spent collecting old material they started playing for free, out of pure passion, at street corners and in Port Said’s squares and cafes. The original troupe had to depend upon craftsmen such as carpenters, fishermen, and plumbers who had to earn their living from their original careers as there was no way to earn enough from music alone. They introduce themselves as a collective of master musicians, singers, fishermen and philosophers.
This group of 20 or so musicians whose ages range from 70 to 30 years old has produced three CDs and have toured extensively in Egypt, other Arab Countries, Europe and Canada. They won prizes at the Jarash Festival in Jordan, and in a World Music festival in Paris. They have also won the first award in the International Folkloric Music Festival in Canada in 2000. Their live shows are real fun and not to be missed.
The first CD of El Tanbura, titled "La Simsimiyya de Port Said" was produced by the Institut Du Monde Arabe and is not easy to find in Cairo, as seem to be the case also for the second, titled “Ahwa Qamar”, produced by El Mastaba Center for Egyptian Folk Music. Their third recording, called “Between the Desert and the Sea”, produced in 2006 by DJ Recording is easily available at Diwan, Virgin, Kotob Khan Bookshop and other retailers. It is a wonderful record and a perfect way to start a journey into Egyptian Folkloristic music.
For more informations, visit their official website http://www.eltanbura.com/

Articles on the press:
Al Masry Al Youm (Sep. 2010)
Community Times (January 2011)