Pierre Bensusan (born 30 October 1957) is a French-Algerian acoustic guitarist. As Sephardic Jews, his family came from Spain, Spanish Morocco, and French Algeria. His music has been characterized as

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

, New-age, and

chamber jazz Chamber jazz is a genre of jazz involving small, acoustic-based ensembles where group interplay is important. It is influenced aesthetically by the small ensembles of chamber music in musical neoclassicism and is often influenced by classical fo ...

. He has published three books of music and tablature. He plays in DADGAD tuning.

Biography

Bensusan was born in 1957 in

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

French Algeria French Algeria ( until 1839, then afterwards; unofficially ; ), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of History of Algeria, Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until ...

. Born in the middle of the

Algerian War of Independence The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...

, he moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

with his family as a child. He studied piano and classical music at the age of seven. Four years later, he began to teach himself guitar after his father had bought him a steel string acoustic guitar and a classmate taught him "a few chords". At seventeen, he signed a contract for his debut album, ''Près de Paris'', which won the

Grand Prix du Disque Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation), ...

at the Montreux Festival. His influences include

Big Bill Broonzy Big Bill Broonzy (born Lee Conley Bradley; June 26, 1893 or 1903August 14, 1958) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s, when he played country music to mostly African-American audiences. In the 19 ...

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Martin Carthy Martin Dominic Forbes Carthy MBE (born 21 May 1941) is an English singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in English folk music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, as well as later ar ...

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Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (, ; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing mo ...

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Davey Graham David Michael Gordon "Davey" Graham (originally spelled Davy Graham) (26 November 1940 – 15 December 2008) was a British nationality, British guitarist and one of the most influential figures in the 1960s British folk revival. He inspired many ...

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, John McLaughlin,

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He was the leader of the Pat Metheny Group (1977–2010) and continues to work in various small-combo, duet, and solo settings, as well as other side pr ...

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, and

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. Bensusan uses DADGAD tuning system and electronics, such as delays, distortion, and volume pedals. He has stated that he became interested in playing in DADGAD because of its "mystical" and "romantic" quality which made him feel like he had gone back to the 16th or 17th century. He includes scat-singing in his compositions, both composed and improvised. He has collaborated extensively with saxophonist

Didier Malherbe Didier Malherbe (born 22 January 1943) is a French jazz, rock, and world music musician and poet. He is a member of the bands Gong and Hadouk. He plays the saxophone, flute, alto clarinet, ocarina, Laotian Khen, Bawu flute, Hulusi, and ma ...

. He performed the song "ELM" for the ''

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'' soundtrack '' Cowboy Bebop No Disc'' for

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. In 2006, Bensusan contributed his song "Falafel a Montsegur" to the album ''Artists for Charity – Guitarists 4 the Kids'', produced by Slang Productions, to assist World Vision Canada in helping underprivileged children. ''Intuite'' ( Favored Nations, 2001) was his first instrumental, solo acoustic guitar album. It included a song he dedicated to

Michael Hedges Michael Alden Hedges (December 31, 1953 – December 2, 1997) was an American acoustic guitarist and songwriter. He was known as a virtuoso who used unorthodox playing techniques, and much of his output was classified as new age music. Hedges ...

Discography

* ''Pres de Paris'' (Cezame, 1975) * ''2'' (Cezame, 1977) * ''Musiques'' (Cezame, 1979) * ''Solilai'' (

Stockfisch Stockfisch Records is a German independent record label, aimed at audiophile fans of guitar-oriented singer-songwriter music and was formed in 1974 by Günter Pauler. Based in Germany, the main focus is European artists, but there are also Ame ...

; Claddagh 1981) * ''Spices'' (CBS, 1988) * ''Wu Wei'' ( Rounder, 1994) * ''Live Au New Morning'' ( XIII Bis, 1997) * ''Intuite'' (Favored Nations, 2000) * ''Bamboule'' (Acoustic Music Records, 2001) * ''International Guitar Night'' with Andrew York, Guinga, Brian Gore ( Favored Nations, 2004) * '' Altiplanos'' (Favored Nations, 2005) * ''Vividly'' (Favored Nations, 2010) * ''Azwan'' (MVD Audio, 2020)

Books

* Bensusan, P: ''The Guitar Book'', HAL Leonard Publishing Corporation, 1985 * Bensusan, P: ''DADGAD Music: Compositions from Spices and Wu Wei'', John August Music / Mel Bay Publications, 1996 * Bensusan, P: ''The Intuite Guitar Book'', DADGAD Music (France), 2003

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bensusan, Pierre 1957 births Living people People from Oran Jews and Judaism in Oran Algerian Jews African Sephardi Jews Algerian guitarists Chamber jazz guitarists Fingerstyle guitarists French jazz guitarists French male guitarists French people of Spanish-Jewish descent French male jazz musicians Jewish jazz musicians Claddagh Records artists Rounder Records artists Favored Nations artists Stockfisch Records artists