In 2019, I started a new phase of my career as a soloist with orchestras and ensembles in Egypt. I performed a lot at all the great concert halls in Egypt from the Cairo Opera House, El Sawy Culture wheel, to Italian Theater in Alexandria(the Woody Allen’s Purple Rose was filmed here), it was all splendid experiences!

Today I will focus on one of my favorite ensembles, El Manara ensemble in Cairo as they are a hidden gem in Cairo.

Backstage of El Manara Ensemble. Everybody came to help me..

El Manara ensemble performs music from the Golden Age in a theater in Nassa city, Cairo. Their concerts are free to the public. The members of this ensemble are all killer gangstars such as the accordion player, Farouk Mohammed, a qanun player whose grandfather was also a qanun player in Umm Kulthum band( but not sure which one exactly), and violinists from Cairo Opera House etc.

Since they have been posting the videos from their concerts on YouTube for more than a decade, a lot of people around the world have watched their videos, but no one seemed to know where the concert takes place.

I reached out to the manager of the ensemble one time and he invited me to a smaller salon they host. I showed up there and was asked to play the violin… Then, the rest is history… I became a regular soloist.

The musicians, managers, owners and other people in this organization are very kind, respectful and HONEST(the last one by the way, it’s not always the case, so worth the statement. If you’ve read the post about Egypt. you’ll understand what I mean.)

The musicians are always wanting to help me getting better on Arabic music. They are very curious to see how a Japanese plays Arabic music and always come to help me in the backstage and outside of the theater. I always feel Egyptians keep the child-like spirit and express their curiosity and affinity to the max. (There’s no such thing as growing up perhaps…I mean in a good and loving way. In this case it’s a great thing for me, but when it’s on the street, it’s a different story…)

The theater is very small and intimate, so you can really feel the power of their performance. In my experience, it’s much better than going to the shows at the Opera Houses(one in Cairo and the other in Alexandria) Somehow I never really felt so moved by whatever I saw at the Opera Houses, but I absolutely love watching El Manara ensemble after I finished playing my pieces. They are much more intimate and alive.

I highly recommend checking them out if you are in Cairo.

In all of my experiences in Egypt so far, it is absolutely the best place for the traditional music!

Here are some of the videos of me with El Manara Ensemble

Hobbi Eh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8vm-me_tSg&list=PLuxstqVqSfeCXUa_13zeXads6q7NtH5PX&index=2

Enta Omri
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlGvMux6W5w&list=PLuxstqVqSfeCXUa_13zeXads6q7NtH5PX&index=5

Issal Rohak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCdzSVrKfVQ

Ansak
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PuwFWtUSdk&list=PLuxstqVqSfeCXUa_13zeXads6q7NtH5PX&index=3

Ya Salam Aka Hoby We Hobak (duet with Ala Kaman)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8enfkxsboI&list=PLuxstqVqSfeCXUa_13zeXads6q7NtH5PX&index

Some of you may be wondering what it is like to be in Egypt as I’ve been going there quite often.

I have to admit I have a love and hate relationship with Egypt and it’s almost against my will to be there.

My mantra when I’m in Egypt is “Don’t be Japanese”. I need to remind myself of this mantra all the time to keep myself sane.

I love Egyptian Arabic music and currently have great opportunities in Egypt with the support of friends and musicians who take care of me like their family. However, this still doesn’t make it easy for me to be in Egypt, but I'm learning something very important about my Japanese upbringing.

I've spent a lot of time in my life in three very different places - Japan, New York and Egypt.

For now let's compare Egypt and Japan. These two places could not be more opposite of one another. People in Egypt say Japan is another planet and I completely agree. Even the landscape is different. In Japan, there's a lot of water, so the country looks all green, whereas in Egypt, land is very dry with lots of desert, rocks, dust, and no greens. Both are beautiful in their own way.

In Japan, precision is everything. The average delay for bullet trains is only 20 seconds, which includes all the major delays caused by natural disasters like typhoons. So basically there are no delays.

Everyone is doing what they are supposed to do and very good at following the instructions to the tee and everything works like magic.

There is no need to check if you received the right change in Japan because no one ever thinks of cheating you out of change and all the calculations are accurate.

Everything is impeccably clean.

No one is losing temper in public places. People hold their emotions to themselves and behave the way they are expected.

In Egypt, you can flip all of the above qualities upside down, inside out and you will get the picture. Almost no one is doing what they are supposed to do. Almost nothing works and there are always problems.

Check your change and check if the prices are fair because chances are merchants tripled the price for you, the foreigners.

People are getting angry on the streets and the crowd joins them and the whole thing becomes one big party.

Garbage is everywhere (muuuch worse than in New York City).

When you come out of a flight with Egyptian Air, you would think the passengers lived there for three month without a trash can because the amount of garbage you find after just one flight is unreal.

However, even though Japan appears to be a much nicer place than Egypt, it's not always the case. In Japan, everything operates as it should, so when some infinitesimally small things don’t go according to plan, everyone gets very anxious.

In fact, it's a place where you can worry your whole life. Japanese are always worrying and preparing for the future. The media really adds to this mass anxiety making sure everyone got something to worry about.

Imagine being in Egypt with my Japanese conditioning... I’m pulling my hair and screaming like the bunny cop in a Disney movie Zootopia (the scene when the bunny cop was in a hurry and went to the city hall, but the workers were sloths. The speed of sloth was driving her nuts).

After three years of agony, I started to learn my lesson.

I just have to say Insha Allah (God Willing) or my version “don’t be Japanese” and let things happen the way they will…because if I didn’t, I literally would be sent to a mental hospital... I just need to stop my mind from engaging altogether and deal with one thing at a time as it pops up. There is No history(“they did that before”) and No future (“it’s gonna happen again”). I had to learn to be right here right now (“I’m ok now”), and just stretch the length of “I’m ok now” mode to infinity. My Japanese mind wants to anticipate all the possible problems, but there's an infinite amount of them, so there's no way one can win...

Egyptians know how to enjoy themselves with very little. People are always outside sipping coffee, tea and smoking water pipes. People truly live in the moment, both literally and figuratively.

This is reflected in their music as well. They never go straight to where they want to go. There are always twists and turns and something happening that was not planned. Their music is very expressive and emotional. I always enjoy watching El Manara Ensemble after I finish playing my pieces. The musicians are always smiling as they play, like children who are hearing themselves play for the first time. I never saw a serious face in concerts (they probably never get serious for anything in the first place).

Their music is beautiful because of this spontaneity and expressiveness.

Egypt has been giving me a great lesson by balancing out my Japaneseness and forcing me to relax into what is and not to argue with it.

The day I can maintain a total tranquility in Egypt would be the day I would become an incorruptible badass resurrected saint who is in this world, but not of it… Sounds quite attainable, isn’t it?..

Kintai Bridge in Yamaguchi prefecture, Japan

The neighborhood I grew up in Chiba, Japan

A Year in Review 2019 + Local favorite in Cairo, El Manara Ensemble

Japan vs Egypt!