Anouar Brahem
Anouar Brahem (in Tunisian Arabic أنور براهم) (born on 20 October 1957) is a Tunisian oud player and composer. He is widely acclaimed as an innovator in his field. Performing primarily for a jazz audience, he combines Arab cl*ical music, folk music and jazz and has been recording since at least 1991, after becoming prominent in his own country in the late 1980s.
Contents
- 1 Biography
- 2 Discography
- 2.1 Solo albums
- 2.2 Collaborations
- 3 References
- 4 External links
Biography
Brahem was born in Halfaouine in the Medina of Tunis, Tunisia. He studied oud at Tunisia's National Conservatory of Music. In 1981, he left for Paris in search of new vistas. This enabled him to meet musicians from a variety of genres. He remained there as a composer for four years, notably for Tunisian cinema and theatre. He collaborated with Maurice Béjart for his ballet Thal*a Mare Nostrum and with Gabriel Yared as lutist for Costa Gavras’ film Hanna K..
After a period back in Tunisia in the late 1980s, when Brahem was appointed director of the Ensemble musical de la ville de Tunis, he toured in the USA and Canada and then signed with ECM Records with whom he has recorded a series of critically acclaimed albums. These include "Thimar", recorded with saxophonist John Surman and b*ist Dave Holland
In playing style, Anouar Brahem is often compared to Rabih Abou-Khalil. Most often he utilizes an ensemble of three or four musicians. He has collaborated throughout his career and on several albums with other musicians: Tunisian percussionist L*ad Hosni and violinist Bechir Selmi and Turkish clarinetist Barbaros Erköse. He has also performed live concerts with these same ensembles.
Anouar released Blue Maqams in 2017 with a band that included Jack DeJohnette, Dave Holland and Django Bates.
Discography
Solo albums
Collaborations
- 1994: Madar with Jan Garbarek and Ustad Shaukat Hussain.
- 2002: Charmediterranéen with Orchestre National de Jazz and Gianluigi Trovesi.
References
External links
- Anouar Brahem’s official website
- Anouar Brahem’s official Youtube Channel
- Anouar Brahem - musicolog
- Anouar Brahem on ECM Records