Come join us for a Night of Umm Kulthum Tarab. Presented by Funoon and Barzakh Cafe

Featuring Eden Zane, Zafer Tawil, and The Umm Kulthum Workshop

Performing

Daret il-Ayyam and El Hobb Kollo

The long songs of Egyptian superstar Umm Kulthum elevated Tarab - musical ecstasy - to a new level. Each song could last an hour or more, with numerous repeats and improvisations that enabled the performers and the audience to go deeper and deeper into the music.

The Umm Kulthum Workshop is a collective of musicians, led by Sami Abu Shumays, dedicated to reviving the performance practice of these long songs - by performing them in their entirety with repeats and improvisation. Through a monthly residency at Barzakh Cafe that started in Summer 2024, they have already performed 14 different songs featuring Sami and other guest vocalists including Najla Jaffel, Zahra AlZubaidi, Gaida, Eden Zane, Zafer Tawil, and Mohamed Salah.

On this special night, Zafer Tawil returns with his ecstatic performance of Daret il-Ayyam - an audience favorite composed by Mohamed Abdel-Wahab - and Eden Zane returns with his moody performance of El Hobb Kollo - one of Baligh Hamdy’s masterpieces.

The ensemble includes:

Sami Abu Shumays, Sarah Mueller, and Insia Malik, violins

Mohamed Salah and Brian Prunka, ouds

Gabe Lavin, buzuq

Gideon Forbes, nay and saxophone

Josh Farrar, electric guitar

Eric Allen, cello

Sprocket Royer, bass

Johnny Farraj and Nezih Antakli, percussion.