'THE WAX CYLINDER RECORDINGS'
In this album, Oxford Maqam recreates the actual recording experience of popular Egyptian artists at the dawn of recording technology. Therefore, all the material (muwashshahat, dawr and mawwal) recorded are straight from the heart of what was then a thriving popular culture.
“The Wax Cylinder Recordings” features playful and melancholic melodies, improvisational dexterity, and outstanding interpretations of acclaimed classical poetry.
To our knowledge we are the first Arabic ensemble to make recordings of this material using wax cylinders since circa 1903. What began as an exploratory session has become our first album and we are so delighted to share it with our fans.
You will notice the last two tracks are of the Saut genre. As the phonograph is such a rare medium, we decided that it would be a waste not to use the talents of our very own Dr Ahmad Al Salhi, expert in this beautiful and thriving urban genre, to make some Saut records.