Renowned saxophonist and jazz composer Andy Laster, a doctoral student at Temple University, has assembled some of the top jazz and experimental musicians for his latest project, Andy Laster's Sounds of Cairo, and will give a free performance on Thursday at The Rotunda (4014 Walnut St.) in West Philadelphia as part of the Ars Nova Workshop series.

Laster is joined by trombonist Curtis Hasselbring, Alex Watermann on cello and Kermit Driscoll on bass to form an all-star quartert performing Egyptian popular songs of the 1920s that were arranged by Jewish composers Zaki Murad and Dawud Husni, among others. The songs were performed in Egyptian men's clubs by small esembles that included a singer, zither, fiddle and sometimes a flute and frame drum. Thursday's concert will also include a taste of Laster's chamber jazz works that employs the ensemble's unusual instrumentation and improvisation.