Salah Ragab & the Cairo Jazz Band – Egypt Strut Album

Step into the vibrant world of Egyptian music with Salah Ragab & the Cairo Jazz Band’s iconic album, Egypt Strut. This masterpiece is inspired by a historic concert held in Cairo in 1967, which aimed to promote Pan-African unity. Drummer Salah Ragab, alongside Czech jazz musician Eduard “Edu” Vizvari and Hartmut Geerken from the Goethe Institute, set out to form Egypt’s first jazz big band.

Following the Arab-Israeli war, Ragab, who held the rank of Major in the Egyptian army, gained access to a remarkable pool of military musicians—over 3,000 strong—spanning the entire country. The military barracks even became a hub for jazz, known as the Jazz House. After a comprehensive jazz history course from Geerken, the Cairo Jazz Band was officially born, performing their inaugural concert at the Ewart Memorial Hall at the American University in 1969.

Further inspiration came from Sun Ra & His Arkestra’s visit to Egypt in 1971, leading Ragab to record an album for the Egyptian Ministry of Culture a year later, titled ‘Egyptian Jazz’, later re-released as Egypt Strut. This album features a unique blend of jazz and Arabic modes, celebrating Islamic festivals and iconic Egyptian landmarks. As noted by Francis Gooding from The Wire, the album exemplifies “esoteric African American Egyptianism and radically spiritualised modal jazz.”