Salah Ragab and The Cairo Jazz Band - Egypt Strut 2LP

When this reissue of Salah Ragab & The Cairo Jazz Band’s Egypt Strut first arrived in store I was excited to potentially hear another cross-cultural jazz collab in the vein of Don Cherry or Archie Shepp.

While it still has a bit of the jazz-in-Africa vibe of those big hitters, this album isn’t quite as free or out there. Tied to Sun Ra’s label, Ragab is a bit more up the alley of Ra’s Duke Ellington worshipping big band sessions. Fun, approachable, tight arrangements from the late 60s through to the mid 70s!
-Mitch