Abaji (Lebanese musician)
Abaji | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Born | Beirut, Lebanon | 19 August 1958
Genres | Blues Oriental, film score |
Occupation(s) | Composer, multi-instrumentalist |
Instrument(s) | guitar, oud, bouzouki, clarinet, percussion |
Labels | Absilone, Cézame Music Agency, Kosinus |
Website | http://www.abaji.net/ |
Abaji is an Armenian singer, songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist.
Biography
Early life
Abaji was born in Beirut, from a Greek father, who left the Greek city of Smyrna in 1922 [1] and from an Armenian-Syrian mother from Istanbul.[2][3]
He spent part of his childhood and early teenage years in
In February 1976 when Abaji was 17, the war in Lebanon forced him into exile.[5] Upon his arrival in France, he started at a boarding school in a neighbourhood near Paris.[6] That is when he began to write songs. Abaji says he was born again from that moment.[4] As a teenager he was inspired by Cat Stevens, Bob Dylan, Fairuz and Ravi Shankar. He sees in Jimmy Page the perfect guitarist, for being able to experiment with both electric and acoustic guitars. Being attracted by experimentation and discoveries himself, Abaji has always found fascinating the way Page could make percussion with the strings and produce aerial sounds on an electric guitar.[7]
Before establishing his music career further, Abaji studied and has been specialised in
Music career
During Abaji's debut years he met film score composer Gabriel Yared, who made an impact on his career [9][10]
Abaji started to get known as the “Bedouin's Troubadour”[11] and began opening shows for artists such as Geoffrey Oryema, John Mc Laughlin and Suzanne Vega[12] among others.
The Artist
Abaji is an avid collector of instruments from all over the world. He owns over 300 instruments, which he has acquired in his travels and concert tours from countries such as: United States, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, India, Lebanon, Morocco, Costa Rica, Oceania and Central America as well as many other countries in Africa and Europe.[4]
He loves improvisation and experimenting
His passion of
Albums
Abaji's has a mix of Oriental and
This debut album won him an invitation by guitarist Jean-Félix Lalanne to participate in the event “Autour de la Guitare”
In 2003 he released his second album Oriental Voyage with Network Medien record label. This is a tribute album to his great-grandmothers from
On his next album Nomad Spirit, Abaji invited Indian
In 2009, Abaji released the album Origine Orients where he sings in five languages: French, Arabic, Turkish, Greek and Armenian. This album is recorded in two days with only one take per track.[22] Abaji usually gets himself involved thoroughly in all of the process of recording, mixing, and mastering.[7]
He got a special invitation to play Lahore, Pakistan with Qawwali musicians of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s family.[7]
His most recent album of 17 tracks Route & Roots was part recorded in Armenia with duduk player Vardan Grigoryan and part in Paris with Kurdish musician Mahmut Demir. This album takes him to tour in over 60 countries including South Africa, Vanuatu Island, Panama and Costa Rica.
In 2010 Abaji played for the popular Tiny Desk Concert series by
He has also collaborated with Pakistani virtuoso singer
Film, TV, dance and theatre music
Abaji has worked as a music composer for TV shows, live shows and film. He recorded over 35 albums including Elements, which has been used as score in several films and documentaries.
He regularly works for music agencies Kosinus and Cézame in Paris composing music for
Abaji has composed music for theatre and dance. He has produced various shows together with Lebanese dancer Nawal Raad.[9]
In 2016 the label 1 Revolution Music, directed by trailer music composer Yoav Goren, released Abaji's work called Middle East Soundscapes.
Discography
- 1996 : Paris-Beyrouth
- 2000 : Bedouin Blues
- 2003 : Oriental Voyage
- 2005 : Nomad spirit
- 2005 : Les mille et une nuits (Musical accompaniment to stories told by Jihad Darwiche)
- 2009 : Origine Orients
- 2016 : Route&Roots
External links
- Official website
- Music related resources : Cézame - Kapagama
- Abaji sur MySpace
- Abaji sur ReverbNation
References
- ^ A, E (March 7, 2003). "Abaji". Telerama (in French).
- ^ Garath, Frederic (November 1996). "Paris-Beyrouth". Acordéon Magazine (in French).
- ^ "Abaji, des racines et des airs". franceinfo (in French). April 8, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e Elisabeth STOUDMANN (December 23, 2009). "ABAJI, à l'Est du Blues". Le Courrier (in French).
- ^ N/A (March 16, 1996). "Une soirée à Paris". Le Monde (in French).
- ^ a b Bertrand Lavaine (February 3, 2016). "Abaji mondialise l'Orient". RFI Musique (in French).
- ^ a b c Philippe Krümm (July–August 2010). "Portrait : Abaji". Trad Magazine (in French). p. 31.
- ^ a b Sarah Maurieres (July 18, 2008). "Les belles vibrations d'Abaji". La Marseillaise (in French).
- ^ a b c Ben (July 21, 2015). "La caverne d'Abaji". Acoustic Guitarist (in French). pp. 104 à 107.
- ^ a b c N/A (November 3, 1997). "World Music/Abaji". Libération (in French).
- ^ Michel Troadec (March 2, 2003). "Abaji : Oriental Voyage". Ouest France (in French).
- ^ N/A (May 6, 1998). "ABAJI". La Terrasse (in French).
- ^ Sandra-Isabel Knobloch (January 22, 2006). "Einzigartige Weltmusik". Donaukurier (in German).
- ^ Arnaud Robert (2003). "Abaji, Oriental Voyage". Vibrations (in French).
- ^ Salah Guemriche (March 15, 1996). "Bédouin'-blues ?". Alger Infos (in French).
- ^ N/A (June 2001). "Abaji Bedouin'blues". Guitare Magazine (in French).
- ^ Nathaniel Handy (May 2003). "Abaji". Songlines, The World Music Magazine.
- ^ a b Daniel Brown (September 2005). "Nomad Spirit". Mondomix.
- ^ Hervé Guilleminot (May 2003). "Sons du désert". Classica (in French).
- ^ "Abaji". www.kennedy-center.org. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
- ^ N/A (January 19, 2006). "Der Troubadour der Beduinen". Frakfurter Neue Presse (in German).
- ^ Ben (January–February 2010). "Origine Orients". Guitarist (in French).
- ^ "Abaji: Tiny Desk Concert". NPR.org. Retrieved 2020-06-18.