Abderrahmane Abdelli (born April 2, 1958) is a Berber author, composer, and singer songwriter known for mixing the traditional

North African North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

music of his homeland with modern sounds.

Biography

Abdelli was born in Mechta Behalil, a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depi ...

in the Great Kabylie,

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , religi ...

, during the

Algerian War of Independence The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...

. His family was displaced by the bombing of their village, Kennour, part of the

Tizi Ouzou Province Tizi Ouzou ( Kabyle: Tawilayt n Tizi Wezzu, ar, ولاية تيزي وزو) is a province ('' wilayah'') of Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 ...

, by the French airforce. After the war, Abdelli's family settled in the coastal town of

Dellys Dellys ( ar, دلّس, Berber: Delles) is a small Mediterranean town in northern Algeria's coastal Boumerdès Province, almost due north of Tizi-Ouzou and just east of the Sebaou River. It is the district seat of the daïra of Dellys. The to ...

. As a boy, Abdelli constructed his first guitar out of an empty oil can, a plank of wood and fishing line."Biography: Abdelli" GekkoBeat.com
/ref> After learning to play the guitar, Abdelli was introduced to the mandol by

Chaabi Chaabi ( in Arabic), also known as Chaâbi, Sha-bii, or Sha'bii meaning "folk", refers to different music genres in North Africa and the Middle East such as Algerian chaabi, Moroccan chaabi and Egyptian Shaabi. Chaabi music just means 'music ...

master, Chaïd Moh-Esguir. Abdelli made his musical debut in Dellys,

Kabylie Kabylia ('' Kabyle: Tamurt n Leqbayel'' or ''Iqbayliyen'', meaning "Land of Kabyles", '','' meaning "Land of the Tribes") is a cultural, natural and historical region in northern Algeria and the homeland of the Kabyle people. It is part of the ...

, during the 1974 Algerian Independence festival. He won several contests in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , religi ...

for amateur singers. Abdelli produced his first album in 1984, but it saw little success. Two years later, he released an album that sold 12,000 copies, but never received payment from his record company Abdelli produced a couple of albums in Algeria, but moved to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

in 1984. It was there "he met producer Thierry Van Roy, who was so fascinated with Abdelli's music that he spent two years exploring the roots of the Berbers' musical tradition at the University of Algiers." Since 1986 he has made his home in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium. Abdelli's most popular albums are ''New Moon'' and ''Among Brothers'' He has performed at major festivals in Europe, including

WOMAD WOMAD ( ; World of Music, Arts and Dance) is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance. History WOMAD was founded in 1980 by English rock musician Peter Gabriel, w ...

and the 0110 concert in Ghent. In addition to Europe he has toured in England, the US and Canada.

Influences

Abdelli's music reflects a heavy Algerian influence. As stated by World Music Central:

Abdelli's lyrics express strong and poetic images of his culture which is threatened from all sides. He expresses himself essentially by symbols which are parts of his traditional culture. He tries to make known the ancient Berber culture which, by its tolerance and openness, is an example to follow in our troubled world.

Abdelli has collaborated with musicians from Europe and South America, often incorporating instruments such as the

cajón A cajón (; "box", "crate" or "drawer") is a box-shaped percussion instrument originally from Peru, played by slapping the front or rear faces (generally thin plywood) with the hands, fingers, or sometimes implements such as brushes, mallets, ...

(Peru), the tormento, the

quena The quena (hispanicized spelling of Quechua ''qina'', sometimes also written ''kena'' in English) is the traditional flute of the Andes. Traditionally made of cane or wood, it has 6 finger holes and one thumb hole, and is open on both ends or ...

(Chilean), and the

bandura A bandura ( uk, банду́ра) is a Ukrainian plucked string folk instrument. It combines elements of the zither and lute and, up until the 1940s, was also often referred to by the term kobza. Early instruments (c. 1700) had 5 to 12 string ...

(Ukrainian).

Discography

*''

New Moon In astronomy, the new moon is the first lunar phase, when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude. At this phase, the lunar disk is not visible to the naked eye, except when it is silhouetted against the Sun during a solar eclip ...

'' (1995) *''Au-delà de Gibraltar'' (2000) *'' Among Brothers'' (2003) *''Destiny'' (2011)

Band members

*Roberto Lagos (charango, guitar, bombo) *Said Mohammed (ney) *Jazouli Azzedine (darbuka, tar, bendir) *Louis Ivan Leiva Alguinta (Latin percussion) *Abdelmajid Makrai Lamarti (violin) *Thierry Van Roy (keyboards)

Notes

References

* Larkin, Colin (ed.) (1998) "Abdelli" ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' (3rd ed.) MUZE, London, ; * Abdelli, A. (July 2003) "Asiram" ''Global Rhythm Magazine'' 12(7): ; * Byrne, Jennifer (2004) "Abdelli Among Brothers" ''Sing Out!'' 48:1 p. 120;

External links

Abdelli Official Homepage
;
"Abdelli" World Music Central

;

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdelli, Abderrahmane 1958 births Living people People from Aafir People from Dellys District People from Boumerdès Province Kabyle people Berber Algerians Berber musicians Real World Records artists 20th-century Algerian male singers 21st-century Algerian male singers English-language singers from Algeria