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The History of the Cairo Cats

Following the closure of the Casbah in 1984 (?), the Bagdad Cabaret followed suit and with the exception of one supper club, the Pasha, featuring MENA music there were no more Arabic live music venues in San Francisco.*

The Aswan Dancers had been performing in and producing shows locally since 1975. In fact our first show using musicians was in 1975 and we have never stopped performing to live music whenever possible. We would always try to do anything to have live music in our shows because I (director of the Aswan Dancers) was spoiled. I had been working in a club to live music since 1965 and couldn’t imagine performing any other way. Of course I realized that in order to have a dance group do choreography it would be a lot easier on them if the music was recorded. But if the music is live there is that opportunity to bond, to connect and make the show more alive and exciting. And how lucky were we? We had an in-house drummer/musician. Susu Pampanin! And she was persuaded to perform in our shows.

So when we had a show, we always had a great drummer and she helped us attract a lot of the musicians we got to work with us. Then when the Casbah and the Bagdad closed, we found there were quite a few musicians who had extra time on their hands and willing to play and help us with our need to have live music in our shows. They were our salvation and we hope that in some ways that we helped ease their sadness in not having a club and dancers to socialize with.

We decided to do a series of shows called Cairo Cabaret comes to Baghdad by the Bay. And we were fortunate to find a really nice affordable little theater called Capp St. Center willing to work with all our needs.

The program for Cairo Cabaret 1 and 2 listed the musicians as: Mohamed Amin, George Dabai, Susu Pampanin, Daria Schwarzschild. When it was time for Cairo Cabaret 3, we decided that the musicians/band needed a name. Susu and I had recently gone on a trip to Egypt and were showing off our photos to the Aswan Dancers.. Our photos from Luxor showed a lot of cats on verandas and rooftops and Linda Grondahl said “musicians are also known as hip cats so why not call the group the Cairo Cats.” And we never looked back.

So the program for Cairo Cabaret 3 listed the Cairo Cats as: Mohamed Amin, George Dabai, Susu Pampanin, Daria Schwarzschild. And then for Cairo Cabaret 4 it read Cairo Cats: Mohamed Amin, Reda Darwish, Nazir Latouf, Imad Mizyed, Susu Pampanin. And in the Cairo Cabaret 4 program one act was called Amina with Drumming by the Cairo Cats.

After that every Cairo Cabaret show would include a special section for drumming by the Cairo Cats led by Susu. Sometimes it would be drum compositions and other times the Aswan Dancers would drum a bit and then dance. Cairo Cabaret 5 listed the Cairo Cats The Aswan Dancers : Mohamed Amin, Nazir Latouf, Imad Mizyed, Daria Schwarzschild, Susu Pampanin. The following Cairo Cabarets also added more players including Vince Delgado and DeviJa Kroll and finally the programs would just read: The Cairo Cats are musicians who band together especially to play for the Cairo Cabaret series. Today the Cairo Cats are: xxx and x.

Soon The Cairo Cats and The Aswan Dancers became interchangeable and we were drummers who danced and dancers who drummed. And Susu found herself developing and orchestrating some pretty incredible and dynamic drum pieces. In 1990 Susu recorded Susu and the Cairo Cats - Dancing Drums. This now drum band was Susu Pampanin, Gregangelo, Daria Schwarzschild, Marsha Kobuchi, Elizabeth Newell and Amina Goodyear. And so this drum group that first performed at the Cairo Cabarets on Capp St. found a leader in Susu and changed and grew in complexity and numbers. There could be as few as 3-4 drummers or at the next show there could be 20+ and they would perform anywhere and everywhere from SF City Hall, Herbst Theater and the Palace of Fine Arts to less formal locations such as street fairs and/or Your Dive, El Rio. Today the Cairo Cats, are primarily a drum group, but sometimes including melodic players with many drum compositions and choreographies.** It’s been all fun and games since its inception.

Below are some video clips of Susu and the Cairo Cats at various events. You can see for yourself how these compositions developed. Ever changing - Ever growing - Always with a bit of a spontaneous edge. Wild and dynamic. Because it wouldn’t be Susu and the Cairo Cats if it wasn’t exciting!

*Both clubs were on the 400 block of Broadway in San Francisco and featured continuous live Arabic music and dance. When Shahrazade opened around 1986, the San Francisco area started booming with Arabic clubs again. We like to think that we filled a 2 year void until that happened.

**Susu’s album recorded in Egypt is “Susu and the Cairo Cats with Safaa Farid.

Please respect and remember Susu and the Cairo Cats drum compositions are copyrighted and may not be used without permission by Susu Pampanin.