The Bedouin Jerry Can Band (BJB) are semi-nomadic musicians, storytellers and coffee grinders from the settlement of Abo El Hossain in the Egyptian Sinai desert. The group’s songs and poetry recount the exploits of ancient Arabian tribes through fables of trusty camels, warnings of the dastardly deeds of sheep rustlers, and tales of unrequited love for the girl in the next settlement with beautiful eyes.
Blending Simsimiyya (traditional five-string Egyptian lyre) with desert flutes and reed pipes, BJB perform infectious Bedouin rhythms on junk percussion including ammunition boxes and jerry cans, scavenged from the former battlegrounds of conflicts fought across their homelands during the Six Day War of 1967 and the subsequent Israeli occupation of Sinai.
‘Their energy and the rousing beauty of the songs are irresistible…it is clear that, despite their music’s deep roots in the Sinai Desert, it can travel anywhere’
Rachel Aspden, the New Statesman
Rich Mix will be screening the following short film to accompany the band’s performance at 5.25pm:
The Siren
The Siren explores a mysterious legend associated with the Simsimiyya.
Sat 26 July
6.30pm | Bar | £12.50/ £11.00 concs. Early bird offer: £9.00/£7.50 concs
