A live, raw, collective sound by Maurice Louca & his band Elephantine (double drummers Tommaso Cappellato & Özün Usta Piero Bittolo Bon on alto, Daniel Gahrton on baritone and Isak Hedtjärn on clarinet; Rasmus Svale Kjærgård Lund on tuba; Rosa Brunello on bass; Els Vandeweyer on vibraphone; Louca on guitar/lap steel/synth).
One of the most gifted, prolific and adventurous figures on Egypt's thriving experimental arts scene, Louca has in recent years garnered a global reputation through three previous solo albums and an expanding, evolving lineup of genre-defying collaborations. The Wire called his 2014 sophomore solo effort, Salute the Parrot, "remarkable music-dense, driven and splashed with colour. For Louca, Elephantine serves as both the pinnacle of his wide-ranging experience and a bold next step in his development as a composer, arranger and bandleader, from Cosmic Jazz, African and World music to transcendental modal traditions. The music-from its pensive lulls through its stretches of hard-grooving hypnosis and moments of avant-jazz.
"Abstract territories of freedom, always grounded, expansive, multiple, internally differentiated, and elephantine."
Asher Gamedze
Maurice Louca is an Egyptian musician and composer born in Cairo where he lives and works. As well as being the co-founder of the bands Bikya, Alif and
The Dwarfs of East Agouza (with Sam Shalabi et Alan Bishop), Louca lends his sound to numerous other projects, composing for theatre, film, dance and contemporary art.
