Anouar Brahem

Anouar Brahem has transformed the role traditionally assigned to the oud, the Arabic lute-like stringed instrument. Formerly employed chiefly to accompany vocalists, the instrument now functions in his hands as a platform for solo invention. Tunis-Hebdo, a Tunisian newspaper, stated in 1988, "If we had to elect the musician of the '80s, we would have, without the least hesitation, chosen Anouar Brahem." He has written numerous scores for films and musical theater works such as Sabots en Or, Bezness, Halfaouine, and Les Silences Du Palais. Further collaborations encompass Maurice Bejart’s ballet Thalassa Mare Nostrum and Gabriel Yared’s contribution to the Costa-Gravas film Hanna K.

Encouraged by his music-loving father, Brahem began oud studies at age ten upon enrolling at the National Conservatory of Music. Nearly a decade of lessons followed with the influential oud player Ali Sitri. By fifteen he performed regularly with local orchestras. Although he initially concentrated on Arabic music, Brahem gradually introduced jazz elements. Those tendencies deepened during his six-year residence in Paris from 1981 to 1987, where he appeared at festivals and joined choreographer Maurice Bejart on the production A Return to Carthage, which earned the prestigious National Award of Excellence In Music.

After returning to Tunis in 1987, Brahem performed at the Carthage Festival within the multi-artist production Ligua 85. He soon accepted the post of director for the Ensemble Musical de la Villa de Tunis. Over the ensuing two years he reorganized the ensemble into smaller ensembles of varying sizes. Among the productions he led were Leilatou Tayu and El Hizam El Dhahbi.

In 1990 Brahem stepped down to concentrate on his own projects. Following tours of the United States and Canada he met and was signed by Manfred Eicher, founder and producer of the German label ECM. His debut album, Barzakh, appeared in 1991 and featured Turkish musicians Bechir Selmi and Lassad Hosni. German music magazine Stereo observed in its review, "(Brahem) is an exceptional musician and improviser." Conte de L'incroyable Amour, his second album, was released in 1992 with clarinetist Barbaros Erköse. In 1994 he recorded Madar alongside Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek and Pakistani tabla player Shaukat Hussain. His fourth album, Khomsa, issued in 1995, presented improvised readings of his compositions for Tunisian film and theater and included accordionist Richard Galliano and violinist Bechir Selmi. With Thimar, released in 1998, Brahem worked with soprano saxophone and bass clarinet player John Surman and double bass player Dave Holland.

Astrakan Cafe appeared three years later, followed in 2003 by Les Pas Du Chat Noir. That same year his 2001 project with Orchestre National de Jazz surfaced under the title Charmediterranéen.

Brahem then withdrew to tour and compose. His next release, 2007’s Le Voyage de Sahar, was a trio session with pianist François Couturier and accordionist Jean-Louis Matinier.

Three further years elapsed before The Astounding Eyes of Rita, recorded in a quartet configuration with bass clarinetist Klaus Gesing, double bassist Björn Meyer, and Khaled Yassine on darbouka and bendir. The composer and oudist appeared at several festivals and selected European cities before embarking on an extended hiatus in October of 2017.

Deeply affected by the unfolding events of the 2011 Jasmine Revolution in his native Tunisia and the ensuing political upheaval, Brahem began writing along thematic lines. When he finally entered a Lugano studio with Eicher in 2014, he assembled Gesing, Meyer, and Couturier together with the string section of Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana under conductor Pietro Mianiti. Over the course of a month they captured sufficient material for the double album Souvenance, which appeared in spring 2015. ECM marked Brahem’s 60th birthday with the studio album Blue Maqams. Produced by Manfred Eicher and recorded at New York’s Avatar Studios, the project placed the Tunisian oud master with a jazz trio comprising bassist Dave Holland—who had first recorded with Brahem on Thimar two decades earlier—drummer Jack DeJohnette, and pianist Django Bates. The album’s concluding word alludes to the Arabic modal music system and receives the “kind of blue” treatment supplied by the jazz musicians. Blue Maqams was issued in October 2017.