- country:Egypt
- region:Middle East
- style(s):Arabic, Traditional
- label:30 iPS
- type:Band
- artist posted by:30 iPS
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An extraordinary collective of semi-nomadic musicians, poets, dancers and coffee grinders from the Egyptian Sinai desert.
Blending the Simsimiyya (a traditional Egyptian lyre) with desert flutes and reed pipes, BJB perform Bedouin songs accompanied by a cacophony of junk percussion' including ammunition boxes & jerry can percussion salvaged from the former battlegrounds of the six-day Arab/Israeli War of 1967.
The group's songs recall the exploits of the ancient Arabian Bedouin tribes through stories from Sinai, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and the Arabian Gulf telling of boundless generosity to guests, fables about trusty camels, warnings of the dastardly deeds of sheep rustlers and tales of unrequited love for the girl with beautiful eyes who lives in the next settlement.
The music of the Sinai desert is a designated Stratocaster-free zone.
"Ammo boxes make for great drums"
The Independent On Sunday
"Camels, coffee and beautiful girls"
London Evening Standard
"An infectious blend of clattering rhythms and rousing choruses"
Songlines
"Raucous rock stars of the Sinai"
New Statesman
"Wild mystical party music"
fRoots
