Maurice Louca, an Egyptian musician and composer born in Cairo, is one of the most exciting artists in the Arab world's alternative music scene.
Taking influence from psychedelia, Egyptian shaabi, and myriad other styles, Louca shatters the confines of musical and cultural labelling. His trademark whirlwinds of rhythmic percussion are punctuated by mesmeric sonic fragments. His debut solo album, Garraya, was released in January 2011 on Cairo imprint 100COPIES label to critical acclaim; Egyptian music journalist Ali Abdel Mohsen described the album as "a work of bruising intensity" and "unexpected beauty." In the years of touring that followed, Louca began developing a richer, harder-hitting, and more complex sound. His 2014 LP Benhayyi Al-Baghbaghan (Salute the Parrot), on Nawa Recordings, is the fruit of such intense reinvention and represents his most original work to date.
Louca performs as part of a live trio with bassist Bashar Farran and drummer Tommaso Cappellato and has collaborated with the likes of Alan Bishop (Sun City Girls, Alvarius B.), Sam Shalabi (Land of Kush, Shalabi Effect), Tamer Abu Ghazaleh (Solo Artist/Alif), Khaled Yassine (Anouar Brahem/Alif), and Egyptian Mahraganat MCs Amr 7a7a and Alaa 50. At CTM 2016, he appears solo and alongside Bishop and Shalabi as the Dwarfs of East Agouza.