Foggy Notion: Dwarfs Of East Agouza

20:00 I Concert I JAKI

Formed in Cairo, Egypt by seasoned free thinkers and explorers, The Dwarfs of East Agouza is a trio consisting of Maurice Louca (Alif, Bikya), Sam Shalabi (Land of Kush, Shalabi Effect) and Alan Bishop (Sun City Girls, The Invisible Hands, Alvarius B.). The three musicians, with a long and rebellious resume spanning a variety of languages, cartographies and forms of expression, co-founded The Dwarfs of East Agouza in 2012 while living in the same apartment building in the Agouza neighborhood.

Since then, they have released six albums on labels such as Akuphone, Unrock and most recently Sub Rosa, unlocking a secret and almost alchemical understanding through a liberating process based on improvisation. With Loca on electronics and synthesizers, Shalabi on electric guitar and Bishop on guitar, bass, alto saxophone and vocals, the trio's dynamic improvisational approach embodies the emancipatory spirit of free jazz, fusing the repetitive hypnosis of Krautrock, pulsating beats, the energy of Egyptian Shaabi music and Arabic scales in a perpetual motion that never seems forced, but organically weaves these disparate impulses together.

With a new album due out in September, following the two long excursions of 2023's High Tide in the Lowlands, The Dwarfs of East Agouza's commitment to a constant balance between chaos and composition remains unbroken, driven by a vision that knows no boundaries, real or imagined.

// Maurice Louca (electronics), Sam Shalabi (vocals, saxophone, guitar), Alan Bishop (electric guitar)