Otaak Band

Otaak Band is an ensemble that features the East-African lyre known as tambur or simsimiyya. This group is dedicated to preserving folkloric music and traditions, and propelling them into the 21st century with lyres, drums and voices. 

Drummer, lyre player and producer Miguel Merino founded Otaak Band in 2009 in Egypt, and the group has featured some of the most outstanding musicians from Egypt and the Sudan, including percussionist Rozza and singer Ahmed Bahr, both Nubian, whose playing perfectly complement the tambur, the quintessential Nubian folk instrument.

The unique and unusual timbres of the lyre have been the foundation of Otaak Band’s sound for almost 15 years, across three albums and many performances in the United States, Egypt, Sudan, Spain, and Germany, along with musicians from those countries.

Complementing the Otaak Band sound are the paintings of Safy Farid, Egyptian expressionist and multi-disciplinary visual artist. Her expressionist style, marked by bold lines, vivid colors, and distorted forms, allows her to explore deep emotions and complex themes, transcending reality to offer insight into the human experience. Each of the songs that Otaak Band performs was either inspired by one of her paintings, or a painting was inspired by a song, and her works are projected behind the group on stage.

The lyre and similar instruments are found all over the East-African region and around the Red Sea. As well as composing their own music and searching for new sounds with these instruments, Otaak Band is dedicated to the study, research, recording and documentation of lyre-playing traditions.