Out Of Nations

Quest

Quest is eleven tracks inspired by and recorded across Berlin, Cairo, and Brooklyn.

Riverboat Records / World Music Network
Released August 31, 2018

Guest artists: Juan Ospina, Hazem Shaheen, Islam Chipsy, Dina Elwedidi

Full album credits

Produced by Chahine

Musicians

Reeds (tenor and soprano saxophones, clarinet, flute, nay): Lety ElNaggar

Drums & minor percussion: Christian Tschuggnall

Electric guitar: Charis Karantzas

Piano, keys & synth: Jonas Cambien

Percussion: Ayman Mabrouk

Electric bass: Ahmed Nazmi

Violins: Khaled Owaida, Mohamed Refaat, Shady Elian, Mohamed Medhat, Mostafa Zaky, Mohamed Raouf

Violas: Wael Rezk, Karim Fouda, Ashraf Ragab

Celli: Dr. Khaled Dagher, Mohamed Hamdy

Nay (track 10): Hany Badry

Oud: Hazem Shaheen

Solo violin: Mohamed Medhat

Saz: Abdallah Abozekry

Bassoon: Brigid Babbish

Trumpet: Martin Loyato

Trombone: Michel Bardon

Maraca: Juan Ospina

Middle Eastern percussion: Hany Bedair, Medhat Mamdoh

Chorus: Alia Shaheen, Hany Bedair, Chahine, Lety

Special guests: Dina Elwedidi, Hazem Shaheen, Islam Chipsy, Juan Ospina

Spoken word: Verena Horne, Clare Richardson, Michael Edwards, Axel Reinemer

Writing

“Out Of Nations” text by V. Horne; “Fiebre” lyrics by J. Ospina

“Khafif” melody by Sayyid Darwish, lyrics by Badiaa Khairy; “Sellem” melody & lyrics from Egyptian folklore

All other compositions by L. ElNaggar; all tracks arranged by L. ElNaggar and Chahine

Production

Recorded at Jazzanova Recording Studio (Berlin), Resaleh Studio (Cairo), Key 66 Studio (Cairo), and Signal Corps Recording (Brooklyn)

Recording engineers: Chahine, Axel Reinemer, Khaled Sanad, Sary Hany, Arun Pandian

Mixed by “Black Pete” and Chahine at Ballsaal Studios, Berlin; assisted by Alexandr Sitnikov and Martin Schattenberg; additional mixing by Khaled Sanad, Cairo

Mastered by Darcy Proper at Wisseloord Studios, Hilversum, Netherlands

Production assistant: Yakein Abdelmagid

Sellem 2.1 (Remix)

Press

“The aural tinctures and essences mingle together creating an integrated instrument of musical expression. Frankly, ‘Fiebre’ is an astonishing piece of music that ignores every precedent. It's that good.”

Randy Radic, Huffington Post

“Quest is one of the most entertainingly eclectic releases of recent months. It's hard to find a playlist that works this well as party music as it does as headphone record.”

Alan Young, New York Music Daily

“Quest will haunt you down from beginning to end.”

Vents Magazine

More Press

Live

Middle Eastern and Latin-inspired electro-acoustic pop, funk, and jazz grooves, on stages across six countries.

Lety ElNaggar performing saxophone under UV face paint and blue light

Quasimodo

Berlin · Jan 2018

Out Of Nations performing on a large outdoor stage under white light beams, in front of a big crowd

D-CAF

Cairo · Mar 2018

Out Of Nations performing under black light, full band and stage lit in neon outlines

UfaFabrik

Berlin · Aug 2018

Plus dates at Artistania, Privatclub, and Badehaus in Berlin, the Goethe Institute in Cairo, and Neustadtlab in Bern, from 2017 to 2019.

Three more shows were canceled at European festivals and venues due to COVID-19 in 2020.