[2] In 1989, a small nucleus of veteran performers recruited by Zakaria came together to form the fledgling El Tanbura group, augmented by younger singers.

By 1996 the group's reputation had spread to Paris and a series of performances resulted in El Tanbura's first international CD, La Simsimiyya de Port Said, recorded live at Institute Du Monde Arabe.

A second disc Between the Desert and the Sea (named by Songlines Magazine as one of the all-time Top 50 world music albums) followed a decade later as the group began a long association with producer Michael Whitewood and the UK record label 30 IPS.

The band performed to both public and critical success at the Barbican's Ramadan Nights festival in 2006[3][4] and across mainland Europe in 2007, also finding time to collaborate with the film-makers 1 Giant Leap on 2008's "What About Me?"

Early in 2011 the band participated in the Egyptian revolution, campaigning for social, political and cultural reform in Egypt and performing for the protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square.

[5][6] Following the Revolution El Tanbura performed at WOMAD Abu Dhabi and returned to London in a show curated for the Barbican featuring the band alongside fellow musical revolutionaries Azza Balba, Mustafa Said and Ramy Essam.

The origins of both instruments are traced in Zakaria Ibrahim's short documentary film called The Siren, which often shows at Egyptological events coinciding with El Tanbura tour dates.

The album material can be found in the soundtrack to Philippe Dib's film El Tanbura: Capturing a vanishing spirit.

It was recorded in Cairo and on location in Port Said, and recounts tales of the 19th century Bambutiyya merchants who frequented the old-time cafés and smoking dens along the path of the Suez Canal and also showcases devotional Sufi songs from the Egyptian Delta.