Jazz music: hearts beat for its lively tunes and feet tap to its pulsating rhythms. An art of improvisation and surprise, it is a genre that rejuvenates the soul; jazz was described by American jazz critic John Fordham as the “sound of the skipped heartbeat, the caught breath, and the sudden smile.” Between the 1890s and the 1890s, jazz emerged as a new style of music, developed by African-Americans in New Orleans. It quickly grew as a distinctive genre of music around the world, and a number of astounding jazz musicians appeared in Egypt during the mid-1800s. “Egypt has an interesting history in jazz that dates back to the 30s of the last century […] it is quite well received here in Egypt. Yet there is a need for extra effort to see more jazz for it to get exposed to the international scene,” explains Amro Salah, founder of the Cairo Jazz Festival to Egyptian Streets. Fusing jazz with oriential, traditional, and folkloric tunes – Yehia Khalil, Salah Ragab, and Fathy Salama are three of Egypt’s jazz giants who have paved the way for jazz listeners and enthusiasts. Yehia Khalill…
