Among the bands coming to town for Cairo International Jazz Festival are Royal Crown Revue, a force behind the late-1990s swing music revival in the US, starting with their debut The Mask (1994). The eight members of the band who will perform in Cairo gathered on the terrace of the Semiramis Intercontinental to meet the press and pose for photographs.
Royal Crown Revue’s main vocalist, Eddie Nichols, explained that this was the band’s first trip to the Middle East, although they have toured all over Europe and a number of times to Australia. "Swing bands started to fall apart when touring became essential–swing bands from the 30s and 40s were huge and the expenses of touring with that many [members] were too high for the bands to cope."
Dave Miller, the band’s bassist who visited Cairo in 1989, suggested that despite the unfamiliarity with swing music, Egyptians would not have a hard time "feeling the music" because "swing, like Egyptian music, is based heavily on rhythm and beats."
The band is being presented by the US Embassy and will perform first at Rythmo at the Semiramis on 9 March alongside an Egyptian swing dance troupe. They will then perform at Cairo University’s Library on 10 March and the Mubarak Public LIbrary in Damanhour on 11 March. Their show for the Cairo International Jazz Festival will be on 12 March at the El Sawy Culture Wheel’s River Hall.
