PERSONNEL
Osama Shalabi: composition + direction
Alexandre St-Onge: computer + voice
Anthony Seck: setar
Dave Gossage: flutes
Devin Waldman: alto saxophone
Dina Cindric: piano
Elizabeth Lima: clarinet, vocals
Jason Sharp: baritone saxophone
Jonah Fortune: acoustic bass
Josh Zubot: violin
Gavin John Sheehan: electric guitar
Gen Heistek: viola
Michel Bonneau: balafon, hand drums
Pat Conan: drums
Pierre-Guy Blanchard: riqq, darbuka, hand drums
Rebecca Foon: cello
Will Eizlini: trumpet, tablas, sampler

Lead vocals and lyrics:
Ariel Engle: "The Pit"
Katie Moore: "Mobil Nil"
Elizabeth Anka Vajagic: "Drift Beguine"
Molly Sweeney: "The Big Mango"

Recorded and mixed by Radwan Ghazi Moumneh at The Hotel2Tango in Montreal
Mastered by Harris Newman at Greymarket.

Album artwork by Nazik Dakkach.

Description

PLEASE NOTE: The sound of scratchy vinyl on the opening song of this record is intentional and is part of the mastered audio mix. Your LP is not defective!

"Sam Shalabi has raised the bar for modern psychedelic music by composing this epic suite for his 20-piece Land of Kush orchestra. By utilizing African, Middle Eastern, Indian, jazz, rock, and folkloric sources, The Big Mango weaves a seamless montage of styles in a transcendent way that is rarely, if ever, achieved. A singular cohesive statement built around five key tracks written for five different female vocalists…it will demand your attention from start to finish." – Alan Bishop (Sun City Girls / Sublime Frequencies)



Following several visits to the city over the years, Osama (Sam) Shalabi moved to Cairo in 2011, arriving at an apartment one block from Tahrir Square, in the midst of Egypt's 'Arab Spring'. Shalabi describes The Big Mango, his new and phenomenal work for his Land Of Kush big-band, as "a love letter to Cairo" framed by "the beautiful, surreal madness of the city…as joyous, horrific, historical events were unfolding". The music was also inspired by time spent in Dakar – a break from the unrelenting intensity of Cairo – where in Senegal's music scene Sam experienced parallels to another of his important aesthetic and political touchstones, Brazilian Tropicalia. The sense of a "positivity, complexity and radicalism in art that was also playful and joyous and wasn't necessarily part of a 'revolution' but seemed to be a form of innate radicalism" – in tandem with the relative openness of Dakar's Islamic society, where the role and presence of women in public and private life, and the relaxed physicality and sensuality of the culture in general – offered a powerful counterpoint and feeling of promise for Egypt's own future. The Big Mango is one of the many nicknames for Cairo, but als.......
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