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Gamal Shafik. Photo: by Rachel AshGamal Shafik
Gamal Shafik. Photo: by Rachel Ash
Brooklyn-based Shafik grew up in a musical family in Cairo surrounded by Egyptian popular, folk, and classical music that made his Shobra neighborhood jump. As a young boy, he practiced percussion on household items – like pots and pans and even a similac container! Pushed by his love and talent for percussion, he soon was sneaking out of the house to play tabla at local wedding parties. Shafik went on to play with such famous musicians as Ragheb Alame, Najwa Karam, and Sabah Fakhri. Immigrating to the United States in 1979, he immediately became a staple tabla player in the golden age of New York’s Arab music and dance scene, playing with orchestras at night clubs, concerts, wedding and other illustrious Arab parties of the time. He is featured on a CD of percussion solos designed to teach the rhythm and phrasing of Egyptian drumming called The Secret Language of Drum Solos.
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Folk / Traditional Arts, Music, Instrumentalist, Traditional / Culturally SpecificSee Also...
