Dhafer Youssef ( ar, ظافر يوسف; born 19 November 1967) is a Tunisian composer, singer and

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player.

Biography

Dhafer Youssef was born in Téboulba (a small village of coastal Tunisia); his grandfather was a

muezzin The muezzin ( ar, مُؤَذِّن) is the person who proclaims the call to the daily prayer ( ṣalāt) five times a day (Fajr prayer, Zuhr prayer, Asr prayer, Maghrib prayer and Isha prayer) at a mosque. The muezzin plays an important role i ...

. He calls the radio "the most important school" for him. He developed an interest in jazz at an early age and clandestinely listened to it during his education at a

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...

ic school. He later left Tunisia to start a jazz career and has lived in Europe since 1990, usually in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. He also works in avant-garde and world music where he has been nominated for awards. He has released six albums of his own and created notable work with

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian language, Italian, Corsican language, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese dialect, Algherese and Catalan languag ...

n trumpeter

Paolo Fresu Paolo Fresu ( sc, Pàulu; born 10 February 1961) is an Italian jazz trumpet and flugelhorn player, as well as a composer and arranger of music. Career Born in Berchidda, Sardinia, he picked up the trumpet at the age of 11, and played in the ba ...

and the Norwegian guitarist

Eivind Aarset Eivind Aarset (born 23 March 1961) is a Norwegian guitarist who has worked with Ray Charles, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ute Lemper, Ketil Bjørnstad, Andy Sheppard, Mike Mainieri, Arild Andersen, Abraham Laboriel, Dhafer Youssef, Django Bates, and ...

. He has an affinity for the

music of India Owing to India's vastness and diversity, Indian music encompasses numerous genres in multiple varieties and forms which include classical music, folk (Bollywood), rock, and pop. It has a history spanning several millennia and developed over ...

and

Nordic music Nordic folk music includes a number of traditions of Nordic countries, especially Scandinavian. The Nordic countries are Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. The many regions of the Nordic countries share certain traditions, many of wh ...

. He was a guest artist on the Norwegian jazz artist

Bugge Wesseltoft Jens Christian Bugge Wesseltoft (born 1 February 1964) is a Norwegian jazz pianist, composer, and producer, son of jazz guitarist Erik Wesseltoft. Career In 1989, Wesseltoft collaborated with the Knut Riisnæs Quartet and was soon after ...

's album ''FiLM iNG''. Youssef has performed with

Ustad Zakir Hussain Ustad Zakir Hussain (born 9 March 1951) is an Indian tabla player, composer, percussionist, music producer and film actor. He is the eldest son of tabla player Alla Rakha. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1988, and the Padma Bhushan in 2002, b ...

Jon Hassell Jon Hassell (March 22, 1937 – June 26, 2021) was an American trumpet player and composer. He was best known for developing the concept of "Fourth World" music, which describes a "unified primitive/futurist sound" combining elements of various ...

Uri Caine Uri Caine (born June 8, 1956, Philadelphia, United States) is an American classical and jazz pianist and composer. Biography Early years The son of Burton Caine, a professor at Temple Law School, and poet Shulamith Wechter Caine, Caine began ...

Tigran Hamasyan Tigran Hamasyan ( hy, Տիգրան Համասյան; born July 17, 1987) is an Armenian jazz pianist and composer. He plays mostly original compositions, which are strongly influenced by the Armenian folk tradition, often using its scales and mo ...

Markus Stockhausen Markus Stockhausen (born May 2, 1957) is a German trumpeter and composer. His recordings and performances have typically alternated between jazz and chamber or opera music, the latter often in collaboration with his father, composer Karlheinz Sto ...

Nguyên Lê Nguyên Lê (Vietnamese: ''Lê Thành Nguyên''; born 14 January 1959) is a French jazz musician and composer of Vietnamese ancestry. His main instrument is guitar, and he also plays bass guitar and guitar synthesizer. He has released albums ...

Omar Sosa Omar Sosa (born April 10, 1965) is a jazz pianist from Cuba. Biography A native of Camagüey, Cuba, Sosa studied percussion at the Escuela Nacional de Musica and Instituto Superior de Arte. In the 1980s he started the band Tributo, recording albu ...

and Hüsnü Şenlendirici. Youssef is one of the ambassadors to Music Traveler, together with Billy Joel, Hans Zimmer, John Malkovich, Sean Lennon, Adrien Brody and more. In 2001, he recorded ''Electric Sufi'' with the ex- Sugar Hill Gang and

Tackhead Tackhead (styled TACK>>HEAD, sometimes known as Fats Comet) is an industrial hip-hop group that was most active during the 1980s and early 1990s, and briefly reformed in 2004 for a tour. Their music occupies the territory where funk, dub, ind ...

rhythm section of

Will Calhoun William Calhoun (born July 22, 1964) is an American drummer who is a member of the rock band Living Colour. Career Calhoun was born in the Bronx, New York. He moved to Boston to attend the Berklee College of Music, where he graduated with a de ...

and

Doug Wimbish Douglas Arthur Wimbish (born September 22, 1956) is an American bass player, primarily known for being a member of rock band Living Colour and funk/dub/hip hop collective Tackhead, and as a session musician with artists such as Sugarhill Gang, ...

. In 2015, Youssef opened the Sligo Jazz project with a quartet act at the Hawk's Well Theatre at

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. Youssef released ''Diwan of Beauty and Odd'' in 2016 which won quite a bit of praise from critics.

Discography

Solo albums

* 1999: ''Malak'' (

Enja Enja Records is a German jazz record company and label based in Munich which was founded by jazz enthusiasts Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber in 1971. The label's first release was by Mal Waldron, and early releases included European and Ja ...

) * 2001: ''Electric Sufi'' (Enja) * 2003: ''Digital Prophecy'' ( Justin Time) * 2006: ''Divine Shadows'' ( Jazzland) * 2007: ''Glow'' (Material), with Wolfgang Muthspiel * 2010: ''Abu Nawas Rhapsody'' ( EmArcy) * 2013: ''Birds Requiem'' (

Okeh Okeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name was spelled "OkeH" from the initials of Ott ...

) (FR: #191) * 2016: ''Diwan of Beauty and Odd'' (Okeh) (FR: #105) * 2018: ''Sounds of Mirrors'' * 2023: ''Street of Minarets ''

Collaborations

* 1997: ''Blue Planet – Peace for Kabul'' (Blue Flame World Music), with Lenny MacDowell and Hakim Ludin * 1998: ''hot ROOM'' (Extraplatte), also featuring Otto Lechner, Wolfgang Puschnig, Achim Tang * 2003: ''Exile'' (Enja), with

Gilad Atzmon Gilad Atzmon ( he, גלעד עצמון, ; born 9 June 1963) is a British jazz saxophonist, novelist, political activist, and writer. As a musician, he is best known as a saxophonist and bandleader. His instruments include the saxophone, acco ...

& The Orient House Ensemble feat. Reem Kelani & Dhafer Youssef * 2005: ''Odem (with Wolfgang Puschnig and Jatinder Thakur)'' (EmArcy), with Wolfgang Puschnig and Jatinder Thakur * 2006: ''Homescape'' ( ACT), with Nguyên Lê Duos Paolo Fresu * 2008: ''Jo & Co'' (Universal Music Polska), with

Anna Maria Jopek Anna Maria Jopek (born 14 December 1970) is a Polish vocalist, songwriter, and improviser. She represented Poland in the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest, with the song " Ale jestem" and finished 11th out of 25 participating acts; and in 2002, she c ...

feat. Richard Bona and

Mino Cinelu Mino may refer to: Places in Japan * Mino, Gifu, a city in Gifu Prefecture * Mino, Kagawa, a former town in Kagawa Prefecture * Mino, Tokushima, a town in Tokushima Prefecture * Mino, an alternate spelling of Minoh, a city in Osaka Prefecture * Mi ...

* 2008: ''Latitudini – Omaggio Alla World Music'' (Casa Del Jazz), with Paolo Fresu and Eivind Aarset * 2017: ''Luna'' (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) with

Iain Ballamy Iain Ballamy (born 20 February 1964) is a British composer and saxophonist. He is considered one of the greatest modern jazz saxophonists. Career Ballamy was born in Guildford, Surrey, and educated at George Abbot School, Guildford, from 197 ...

And

Dave McKean David McKean (born 29 December 1963) is an English illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician. His work incorporates drawing, painting, photography, collage, found objects, digital art, and sculptur ...

Featuring Dhafer Youssef, Emilia Mårtensson With Stian Carstensen, Stuart Hall, Matthew Sharp (Feral Records)

References

External links

* *
Dhafer Youssef – 39th Gülay (To Istanbul)
on YouTube
BBC – Awards for World Music 2006 – Dhafer Youssef

An All About Jazz article mentioning him
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Youssef, Dhafer 1967 births Living people Jazzland Recordings (1997) artists Tunisian jazz composers Enja Records artists EmArcy Records artists Justin Time Records artists Okeh Records artists ACT Music artists Tunisian oud players Modal jazz oud players