Salah Ragab formed The Cairo Jazz Band, Egypt's first jazz big band, in 1968. Ragab had studied with Osman Kareem, with whom he formed the first jazz quintet in Cairo in 1963, and would go on to accompany Sun Ra on a European tour in 1984. On these recordings, made in Heliopolis, Egypt, between 1968 and 1973, The Cairo Jazz Band features some of the best musicians in Egypt, including Zaky Osman (trumpet), Saied Salama (tenor sax), and Alaa Mostafa (piano), along with four other saxophones, three other trumpets, four trombones, bass, drums, percussion, and various other oriental instruments.