Cairo has a vibrant experimental music scene that resonates as far as Montreal thanks to the talent of composer Nadah El Shazly, who took root here during the pandemic. Accompanied by harpist Sarah Pagé, the musician will perform on Thursday, on the 23rde Suoni per il Popolo festival, a program of selected excerpts from songs from his first album, Ahwarand film scores that she recently composed – one of which allowed her to walk the red carpet at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival a few weeks ago.
She enrolled in psychology and theater at university, but those two interests were no match for music. “When I was little, I could sit for hours listening to music, that’s my favorite thing in the world,” Nadah tells us in very good French. I studied at the German school in Cairo, that’s where I learned French — but I speak it with a German accent! » she says, laughing.
During my studies, around ten years ago, “I was always involved in different musical projects and I was learning to work with music creation software”. This passion for music does not come from her parents, who do not share artistic fiber with their daughter, she confides, but perhaps from her great-grandfather Ahmed Rami (1892-1981), illustrious poet who wrote the texts of around a hundred songs in the repertoire of the legendary Oum Kalsoum (1898-1975), “the Star of the Orient”, undoubtedly the most celebrated voice in the Arab world.
“I listened to his songs a lot when I was little,” says Nadah, who herself has a lovely voice. In Cairo, where I grew up, I was part of a collective of musicians that sought to establish a scene underground. We played all kinds of styles, but a lot of experimental electronic music. I was greatly influenced by that time, meeting people, listening to our creations. »
If I have to explain my music to people, I simply say that I sing songs accompanied by electronic instruments. I improvise a lot, too.
It was at this time that she met a colleague in Cairo, also attached to Egyptian musical culture: the Montreal composer, guitarist and oudist Sam Shalabi, an outstanding improviser, keen on jazz, noise and music. musical traditions of this region of Africa, leader of the eclectic psyche-jazz-rock-oriental fusion orchestra Land of Kush, whose albums are released on the Constellation label (Godspeed You! Black Emperor).
“The first time I met him was in a party. He told me he lived in Montreal. That’s when I realized: oh, it’s Sam Shalabi, from Land of Kush! I’m a fan! He creates his own interpretation of Egyptian music, it’s magnificent. He came to see me in concert, I was playing a more electronic version of my album. I asked him if he would agree to collaborate on my project. » The majority of musicians that we hear on its abundant Ahwar (2017) are from Montreal, were recorded at the Hotel2Tango studio; in exchange, Nadah El Shazly lends her voice to the songs of Sand Enigma (2019), the superb latest album from Land of Kush.
“If I have to explain my music to people, I simply say that I sing songs accompanied by electronic instruments,” summarizes Nadah. I improvise a lot, too. »
One of the songs ofAhwar is titled Ana ‘Ishiqt (I Once Loved). Nadah places her amber voice on plaintive cello notes, embellished with bursts of electric guitar and metallic percussion. This song appealed to the British filmmaker of Moroccan origin Fyzal Boulifa, who asked him to compose the soundtrack for his feature film The damned do not cry (2022), frame then edited on disk. ” The song Claustrophobic Love of the soundtrack contains elements ofAna ‘Ishiqt, notes Nadah. I created the soundtrack in a bit the same way as I recorded Ahwar », based on composed themes and improvisation sessions. Sometimes mysterious, sometimes frenetic, sometimes romantic, the composer’s work is especially close to contemporary music and “classical” film music, to which are added some references to the musical traditions of North Africa.
Nadah El Shazly took a liking to music on screen, signing the soundtrack for To a Land Unknown, by Danish director of Palestinian origin Mahdi Fleifel. His drama (which he co-wrote with Fyzal Boulifa) featuring a Palestinian refugee in Greece was presented during the Filmmakers’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival. “Mahdi Fleifel is a superb director, who signed A World Not Ours (2012), whose story takes place in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon. I immediately accepted his invitation to compose the music for his new film — he contacted me last November for that, we only had three months to complete the work, a small miracle. It was an honor for me to be part of it. »
Sponge of musical genres as varied as punk, jazz and electronic music, the Suoni per il Popolo festival has this year remodeled its formula, narrowing its programming to a dozen days (until June 23). The public will discover, on the bill for the evening of June 13 at the Sala Rossa, in addition to Nadah El Shazly and Sarah Pagé, the creation Three Unisons for Four Voiceswork for violin, cello, bass clarinet, trombone, ondes Martenot and percussion by Canadian composer Sarah Davachi.