Ayman Fanous has been described as a “master musician/composer pursuing the most imaginative alternatives to the status quo… who has honed distinctive and unconventional methods on both guitar and bouzouki, managing to synergize classical, flamenco, and free jazz techniques” (Karl Ackerman, allaboutjazz.com). His signature sound has been described as a “stylistic amalgam of Derek Bailey and Paco de Lucia” (Jay Collins, Signal to Noise). In addition to the guitar, Fanous also reaches back into his Egyptian ancestry in improvisations on the bouzouki. This is informed by many years of absorbing influences from the musical traditions of the Arab world, Turkey, India, North Africa, Persia, and the Balkans. More recently, he has developed extended electric guitar techniques using a slide. Although he has only recently begun to release recordings, he has led duos, trios, and quartets with numerous world-renowned jazz and improvisational musicians, including Frances-Marie Uitti, Bern Nix, Tomas Ulrich, Jason Hwang, William Parker, Ned Rothenberg, Mark Feldman, Joe McPhee, Denman Maroney, Mat Maneri, Lori Freedman, Greg Howard, Daniel Levin, Kinan Azmeh, Chris Speed, Andrea Parkins, Ikue Mori, Susan Alcorn, and Tatsuya Nakatani.