Akuphone bringen Ende April den live eingespielten Longplayer “Gouda Bar” des Kairoer Oud-Virtuosen Aly Eissa heraus – eine auf zahlreichen Instrumenten – neben der Oud Percussion, Synthies, Keyboards, Trompete, Violine und Becken – basierende Fusion diverser musikalischer Einflüsse, in deren Zentrum die klassische und traditionelle Musik Ägyptens und des breiteren arabischen Kulturraums stehen. Beim Label heißt es: “Gouda Bar is an original instrumental music project led by composer and Oud player Aly Eissa. Featuring his diverse musical influences, Eissa’s compositions create versatile and twisted meditative atmospheres throughout the musical experience. Aly Eissa is a composer and Oud player based in Cairo, Egypt. He was mentored by

legendary composer Abdo Dagher and Oud virtuoso Hazem Shahin. Eissa’s style is deeply-rooted in the Egyptian classical and folk traditions, and influenced by various western genres. Since 2012, Eissa has been regularly performing his compositions with an ensemble for live audiences in Cairo, offering a meditative musical experience with a twist. One of Eissa’s musical approaches is the experimenting approach through a unique formation including the Belgian synthesizer player Jonas Cambien and the Egyptian percussion player Ayman Mabrouk. In this ensemble, Eissa is trying to explore a different sound and space in the originally composed Arabic music”. Das Album erscheint mit Artwork von Aly Gaafar auf LP zusammen mit einer CD, die einen Bonustrack enthält, sowie digital.