site.btaCairo Jazz Festival Director Amro Salah "Cannot Do without Bulgarian Music"

The music of the Bulgarian ethno jazz group Outhentic fits perfectly into the programme of the Cairo Jazz Festival, according to Amro Salah, founder and director of the festival in the capital of Egypt. During the opening of the 16th installment of the event, the pianist told BTA in an interview that a friend in Bulgaria told him about the band. 

"I took a listen at their music, and I loved it. It is a very good mix of folk and jazz. Extremely pleasing arrangements," Amro said.

This major jazz festival by the Nile, taking place between October 31 and November 8 at the old campus of the American University in Cairo, in Tahrir Square, has attracted artists from 15 countries. Bulgaria is represented by Outhentic, who will give a concert on November 7. The day before, their founder Zhivko Vasilev will attend a lecture and a discussion on Balkan and Bulgarian music and its links to Arab countries.

The Cairo Jazz Festival and the participation of the Bulgarian band are supported by the Bulgarian Embassy in Egypt.

Amro Salah got his first taste of Bulgarian music 25 years ago, when he met a Bulgarian woman who would become his wife. "I wanted to get to know Bulgarian music. Returning from her holidays in Bulgaria, my wife Donika brought many cassettes by Diko Iliev, Ivo Papazov, Theodosii Spassov, the Filip Kutev Ensemble. That was a large dose of music. I was enchanted, and I fell in love with it. Today, I cannot do without Bulgarian folk music," Amro said, a big smile on his face.

In addition to playing the piano, he is a composer, producer and lead member of Eftekasat, a well-known Egyptian jazz act. He uses Bulgarian elements in his music.

The nine days of the festival are chequered with a variety of concerts, film screenings, workshops, jam sessions, a photo exhibition and children's events.

It took almost a year to organize. "A few weeks after the previous festival ends, we begin working on the new one. We are relatively relaxed at first, but by August it gets really crazy," Amro said. "Every year, we acquire more experience and learn new things. We improve our way of working. I think we manage to pull it off. We are happy with the programme this year."

The 16th Cairo Jazz Festival has gathered artists from Australia, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Egypt.