The Dwarfs of East Agouza

Hypnotic krautrock, borderless free jazz and Arabic scales from Cairo’s bubbling underground scene.

Formed in 2012, The Dwarfs of East Agouza brings together three towering figures from the international avant-garde: electronic musician Maurice Louca (Alif, Bikya), composer and guitarist Sam Shalabi (Shalabi Effect, Land of Kush), and the inimitable Alan Bishop — restless pioneer of the American underground, founding member of Sun City Girls and the Sublime Frequencies label. Three free spirits who found themselves living in the same building in the Agouza neighbourhood.

Their music winds freely between free jazz, krautrock, shaabi and North African rhythms — long free-spirit stretches of improvised psychedelia, caught between calculated chaos and hypnotic repetition. Their concerts are ecstatic, unpredictable sonic rituals, a telepathic chemistry as confounding as it is thrilling.

A cornerstone of Cairo’s experimental scene, alongside Nadah El Shazly, Land of Kush and Louca’s Elephantine Band, the trio continues with Sasquatch Landslide — released on the essential Constellation music label (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Jerusalem in My Heart, Colin Stetson, Sanam…) — its explosive exploration of a music of infinite meanderings. After a decade of concerts across Europe, the Middle East and North America, the trio is ready to sweep everything in its path.

Tremendous art from three of the freest and most seasoned minds on the international exploratory scene. Or, to put it very simply: NOT TO BE MISSED;