The Drummers of the Nile

The Drummers of the Nile in Town: Cairosonic is master drummer Mahmoud Fadl's trip back to the Cairo of his youth, and in part his quest to find the brass bands he remember from that time, although the musicians seemed to have faded away from their haunts. Along the way he recorded some outstanding tracks with his band, the Drummers of the Nile, and others with the Khalil family (who include a member of the Egyptian Parliament in their ranks — and yes, he's on the disc, too, wailing away on the clarinet-like mizmar, although pride of place goes to 13-year-old Magdi Khalil Ibrahim, whose solo on "Elnakrazam" is outstanding). Eventually, through word of mouth, the members of the brass band, Hasaballah, all old men now, did show up at the studio. And though Fadl wasn't expecting much, they recorded a large number of pieces with him, four of which ("Maqsoum Hasab," "Halo Aleina," "Bahraweya," and "Dokk Ya Hasab") can be heard here. Just to round everything out, there's a remix of a Fadl track from an earlier album. Sometimes you really can go home again.