Massar Egbari
Massar Egbari is an Egyptian band that was officially launched in 2005 from Alexandria, Egypt. The band consists of 4 musicians: Ayman Massoud (Keyboards), Hani El Dakkak (Guitar & Lead Vocal), Ahmed Hafez (Bass guitar, Tamer Attallah (Drums) & Mahmoud Siam (Guitars) who joined the Band in 2008. It presents a kind of alternative Egyptian music, mixing rock, jazz and blues with Oriental music. "Massar Egbari" means "Compulsory Detour", a name intended to reflect how society forces people to think and live their lives in a certain way, the band pokes fun at typical social norms and trends.[1] The band mainly concentrates on presenting music and songs talking about social problems. Love is not their main concern although it represents a part of their songs.
Performances
- In 2007, the band played for the first time in Europe as part of the Malta Arts Festival (Valletta-Malta),[2] Barisa Rock Festival - Rock for Peace (Istanbul-Turkey).[3]
- In 2008, the band played in The Biennale of young artists from Europe and the Mediterranean in Bari, Italy.[4]
- In 2009, Massar Egbari played at a festival in Cairo in support of the people of the Gaza Strip, then at the International Adriatic-Mediterranean Festival in Ancona, Italy. In the same year, Massar Egbari invited as special guests to perform in the Bienale of young artists in Skopje to perform with Monistra band from Macedonia in their Common project Alexsopje (Alexandria-Skopje).
- In 2010, the band performed for the first time along with other artists from Africa in Sauti Za Busara Festival in Zanzibar.
- On May 29, 2014, Massar Egbari performed alongside Black Theama and Cairokee.[5]
Massar Egbari members (nationally and internationally) attended several workshops, won several prizes, as well as composing music for a number of movies. Massar Egbari will appear by the end of 2010 in El-Hawi, a film by Ibrahim El-batout (director of “Ein-Shams”) about people living in Alexandria, and in “Microphone”, a film by Ahmed Abdallah El-Sayed (director of “Heliopolis”) in a film taking about under-ground artists in Alexandria with Khaled Abo El-Naga, Menna Shalaby, Yosra El-Lozy and Alexandrian underground artists.
Massar Egbari was featured on the 2014 compilation Songs from a Stolen Spring that paired Western musicians with artists from the Arab Spring. On the album, Massar Egbari's "I Still Exist" was meshed with Maria McKee's performance of the Tony Joe White song "Ol' Mother Earth".[6]
Discography
- إقرا الخبر Read The News (2013)[7]
- Songs from a Stolen Spring (compilation) (2014)[8]
- تقع وتقوم Rise and Fall (2015)
References
- ↑ http://nogomistars.com/biography.asp?ID=1057
- ↑ http://www.triplew.me/en/artist/massar-egbari.html
- ↑ "Barışarock Beşinci Yılında da Barış Diyor". Bianet (in Turkish). 10 August 2007. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
- ↑ "La fontaine des miracles et des clichés". Al-Ahram Hebdo (in French). 11–17 June 2008. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
- ↑ http://www.filbalad.com/en/events/details/1806/cairokee-black-theama
- ↑ "Songs From A Stolen Spring". Valley Entertainment. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
- ↑ "Massar Egbari* – إقرا الخبر Read The News". Discogs. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
- ↑ "Songs From A Stolen Spring". Valley Entertainment. Retrieved 14 November 2014.