Popular Egyptian band Black Theama is preparing some surprises for its fans amid the celebration of its 16th anniversary at the Cairo Opera House s Fountain Theatre on Wednesday 5 August.
"This is a very special concert for us, especially because it comes after a long suspension of artistic activities," the vocal trio band, consisting of the multi-talented Ahmed Bahr, Mohamed Abdo and Amir Salah El-Deen, told Ahram Online days before the anticipated concert.
"We will sing some of our old songs like Bahar ("Sailor"), Weinek ("Where Are You"), Hendi ("Indian") and Ousso , in addition to some new songs," the band revealed.
In Wednesday s concert, Black Theama will feature the three singers Sayed Rekaby, Shando and Maram.Always combining some of the top musicians in the country, Black Theama s arsenal of instruments now merges keyboardists Faisal Fouad, bassist Mounir Maher, guitarist Mostafa Fathi, drummer Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz, percussionists Adel Mekha and Mohamed Zatouna, saxophonist Reda El-Sayed, and Eslam Elabty on oud. Each musician is involved in many music projects with the most well-known names in the country and the Arab world.As their name suggests, Black Theama, who are deeply influenced by southern roots of Nubian, Sudanese and African music, introduced a big collection of a commercially-appealing sound that adopts various concepts from genres like Reggae, Rap, Blues and Jazz alongside slang Egyptian lyrics.
"When we founded the band, we started with a workshop where the three of us collaborated to write and compose our originals, as well as develop other songs each of us had previously written on their own," said the band, which has collaborated with many well-known artists, including the late Mido Zoher, who wrote many of its lyrics.In addition to dozens of singles, the band, who initially gained fame for revolutionary lyrics before turning more towards romantic and social topics, released two albums; Bahar in 2020 and Gawi Baniadmeen in 2015.
"On Wednesday, we will also sing some Sudanese tunes like Ya Msafer . We will sing Abdel-Hadi with Shandoo, Ne na El-Genina with Rekaby and Habibi Ta a; with Maram," the band revealed.
The Cairo Opera House is hosting a series of events during the month of August, including concerts by Ali El-Haggar (Thursday 6), Medhat Saleh (Thursday 12), Mohamed El-Helw (Friday 21), and many other events.
Egypt resumed public cultural activities last month as part of phase one of the country s cautious reopening following the Covid-19 lockdown, with all events held under strict measures that include social distancing, obligatory facemasks, and sanitising.
