Ali Hassan Kuban
"I perform because I love art. I love entertaining people. As long as you're going straight, what's there to fear?"
Ali Hassan Kuban
Ali Hassan Kuban was born in 1933, in Gotha, Egypt, a small village in the heart of Nubia near Aswan.. At the age of seven his family moved to Cairo where, in the Nubian Boy Scouts, he learnt to play the clarinet and the tar (bagpipes). In 1949 he performed as a clarinettist at the Opera of Cairo and started playing in Nubian wedding bands before forming his own eight-piece group, the first Nubian band to feature a brass section alongside traditional instruments.
Kuban began to add other outside influences: electric instruments, the rhythms of Cuba and James Brown. This potent mix made him a star, his fame spreading beyond the Nubian communities, selling millions of cassettes. In the 90's Kuban made several recordings for the international market and toured outside of Egypt. In Cairo he operated up to seven different bands and employed over 60 musicians. It is said that no Nubian wedding party was complete without an appearance by Kuban.
Ali Hassan Kuban died in June 2001 in Cairo just after the release of his last album "Real Nubian" on PIRANHA Musik.
See more at http://www.piranha.de/english/piranha_musik_verlag/ali_hassan_kuban
Mahmoud Fadl
"The drum and the dancer are like lovers, parent and child, brother and sister. They talk to each other with sweet words and signs of closeness."
Mahmoud Fadl
Mahmoud Fadl was born in 1955, a descendant of a Nubian family rooted in the Griot culture of the "Battikol" people. He was raised in the Egyptian cities of Assuan and Cairo and started his musical career as a limbo dancer and musician for Nubian and Arabic wedding celebrations. His outstanding talent for percussion soon made him a much sought after musician for top Arabic orchestras and singers like Ahmed Adawia and Nubian soul legend Ali Hassan Kuban.
After several international tours including guest appearances in Syria, Morocco and Greece, Mahmoud Fadl established himself in Europe to develop his own international solo-career. Today the master drummer works and travels between Cairo and Berlin, carrying out rhythm research for his numerous projects. To date he has released four albums with his group Salamat and five under his own name including three with his Drummers of the Nile ensemble, all on Piranha. He has appeared on albums by The Klezmatics and Maurice el Medioni and his Tribal House Project "United Nubians" is one of the most innovative developments of the vibrant Berlin club scene. Catch up with Mahmoud Fadl, musician, film actor, fashion designer and always busy ambassador of "Cairo Cool".
See more at:
http://www.piranha.de/english/piranha_musik_verlag/mahmoud_fadl
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