Abaji is an Armenian singer, songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist.

Biography

Early life

Abaji was born in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

, from a Greek father, who left the Greek city of

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

in 1922 and from an Armenian-Syrian mother from

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

. He spent part of his childhood and early teenage years in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

capital city, where he discovered music. He started to play the folk guitar at the age of 11. He had both the influence of

Greek music The music of Greece is as diverse and celebrated as its history. Greek music separates into two parts: Greek traditional music and Byzantine music. These compositions have existed for millennia: they originated in the Byzantine period and Gree ...

from his family's heritage and of Oriental music that he was exposed to in the streets of Istanbul. In February 1976 when Abaji was 17, the war in Lebanon forced him into exile. Upon his arrival in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, he started at a boarding school in a neighbourhood near Paris. That is when he began to write songs. Abaji says he was born again from that moment. As a teenager he was inspired by Cat Stevens,

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

Fairuz Nouhad Wadie' Haddad ( ar, نهاد وديع حداد, ; born November 21, 1934), known as Fairuz ( ar, فيروز, ; also spelled Fairouz, Feyrouz or Fayrouz), is a Lebanese singer. She is considered by many as one of the leading vocalists a ...

and

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North In ...

. 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. Before establishing his music career further, Abaji studied and has been specialised in

Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of action ...

and

tai chi Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called " shadowboxing", is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and meditation. ...

, which he has practiced for over forty years. He became a therapist working for the psychiatric emergency services in Paris, using his tai chi and relaxation techniques with the patients.

Music career

During Abaji's debut years he met film score composer

Gabriel Yared Gabriel Yared (Arabic: غبريال يارد; born 7 October 1949) is a Lebanese-French composer, best known for his work in French and American cinema. Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Yared scored the French films ''Betty Blue'' and ''Camille Claud ...

, who made an impact on his career Abaji started to get known as the “ Bedouin's Troubadour” and began opening shows for artists such as

Geoffrey Oryema Geoffrey Oryema (16 April 1953 – 22 June 2018) was a Ugandan musician. In 1977 after the murder of his father, Erinayo Wilson Oryema, who was a cabinet minister in the government of Idi Amin, he began his life in exile. At the age of 24, and a ...

, John Mc Laughlin and Suzanne Vega 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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

, Costa Rica,

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...

and

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

as well as many other countries in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. He loves improvisation and experimenting with new instruments. He sets himself to learn to play a new instrument every 4 to 5 months; he can play instruments such as: saz, zarb,

flutes The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

, bamboo saxophone, duduk. His passion of

lutherie A luthier ( ; AmE also ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments that have a neck and a sound box. The word "luthier" is originally French and comes from the French word for lute. The term was originally used for makers ...

and ancient instruments has inspired him to invent a 5-string

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

that he plays with a

violin bow In music, a bow is a tensioned stick which has hair (usually horse-tail hair) coated in rosin (to facilitate friction) affixed to it. It is moved across some part (generally some type of strings) of a musical instrument to cause vibration, whic ...

Albums

Abaji's has a mix of Oriental and Blues music in his style. He writes lyrics in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and French. His debut album Paris-Beyrouth was released in 1996 with Francis Varis playing the accordion. One of the album's songs, Zahra Hamra was chosen for the “Planète compilation” album by Radio France International. This debut album won him an invitation by guitarist Jean-Félix Lalanne to participate in the event “Autour de la Guitare” in the Olympia venue in Paris. Abaji also collaborated on the album Desert Blues 2 with the song "Gibran" in tribute to poet

Khalil Gibran Gibran Khalil Gibran ( ar, جُبْرَان خَلِيل جُبْرَان, , , or , ; January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931), usually referred to in English as Kahlil Gibran (pronounced ), was a Lebanese-American writer, poet and visual artist ...

released by Network Medien record label in 2002 which becomes an international success. In 2003 he released his second album Oriental Voyage with Network Medien record label. This is a tribute album to his great-grandmothers from

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. In this album he plays the

oud , image=File:oud2.jpg , image_capt=Syrian oud made by Abdo Nahat in 1921 , background= , classification= * String instruments *Necked bowl lutes , hornbostel_sachs=321.321-6 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded with a plectrum , ...

harp-guitar The harp guitar is a guitar-based stringed instrument generally defined as a "guitar, in any of its accepted forms, with any number of additional unstopped strings that can accommodate individual plucking." The word "harp" is used in reference to ...

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...

, sitar-guitar, daff, harmonica and flute in which songs such as Raml (Sand), Maa (Water), El Wahha (The Oasis) and Nejmet (Stars) can evoke the sounds of the desert. On his next album Nomad Spirit, Abaji invited Indian

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

Ramesh Shotham Ramesh Shotham (born May 7, 1948 in Madras, Tamil Nadu, India) is a percussionist and drummer. Life Ramesh Shotham was born in Madras, South India. He graduated with a degree in zoology from Loyola College, University of Madras. He began his m ...

with his

Thavil A ''thavil'' (Tamil:தவில்) or ''tavil'' is a barrel-shaped percussion instrument from Tamil Nadu. It is also widely used in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu and Telangana States of South India. It is used in temple, folk ...

, Moroccan oud and

guembri The sintir ( ar, سنتير), also known as the guembri (), gimbri or hejhouj or Garaya in Hausa language, is a three stringed skin-covered bass plucked lute used by the Gnawa people. It is approximately the size of a guitar, with a body car ...

player Majid Bekkas and Armenian duduk master Djivan Gasparyan to take part on the recording. Later on, he went on to tour to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

together with Ramesh Shotham. In this album Abaji is inspired by the spiritual heritage of his great-grandfathers from Smyrna and Aleppo. 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. Abaji usually gets himself involved thoroughly in all of the process of

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

, mixing, and mastering. He got a special invitation to play

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

with Qawwali musicians of

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ( pa, ; born Pervez Fateh Ali Khan; 13 October 1948 – 16 August 1997) was a Pakistani singer, songwriter, and music director. He was primarily a singer of qawwali — a form of Sufi devotional music. Sometimes ...

’s family. 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 Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

and Costa Rica. In 2010 Abaji played for the popular Tiny Desk Concert series by

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

Music at the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

in Washington. He has also collaborated with Pakistani virtuoso singer Ustad Naseeruddin Saami.

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. The thematic of the albums varies including India, Exile, the Middle East, the Investigation series focused in a geographic area, among others. All of his music has been used either for global television shows or

film scores A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

. He regularly works for music agencies Kosinus and Cézame in Paris composing music for TV and films. Abaji has composed music for theatre and dance. He has produced various shows together with Lebanese dancer Nawal Raad. 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 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

: ''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 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

: ''Route&Roots''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abaji Living people Lebanese oud players Lebanese people of Armenian descent Lebanese musicians Musicians from Beirut Lebanese people of Greek descent Lebanese people of Syrian descent 1958 births