Career
He is a pioneer of modern Arabic World Music. John Storm Roberts, of Original Music, AllMusic, wrote that among raï singers, the popular-oriented Ahmed Fakroun stands out on two grounds. First, he is influenced by Europop and French art rock, not just the generalized rock of the others
Second, he"s a multi-instrumentalist in both traditions as well as a singer.
He plays bouzouki-like saz, mandol and darbouka drum, as well as guitar, bass guitar and keyboards. Sometimes he seems overly crossover-oriented: but on form, his crossover deepens into telling biculturalism.
Fakroun has collaborated with international producers including Tommy Vance, Papathanassiou Vangelis, Nicholas Nicorelli, Riccardo Sinigaglia, Group classical rock Enid, Jean Ferre, Jean-Baptiste Mondino and Mark Harris. lieutenant was an early childhood fascination with rhythmic harmony which led to his choice, as first instrument, of the Fender Precision Electric Bass.
This was soon flanked by harmonica, guitar and piano, as well as traditional stringed instruments such as the ud, the mandola and the saz.
From the very beginning, he listened intently to music from every corner of the planet - from the Libyan desert and the temples of India to the Scottish highlands, streets of Paris, London and New York - absorbing a rich variety of influences that would lead to his unique, personal style. His first band, formed in 1970 in Benghazi, played extensively at local school dances and events. Then, in England for five years of upper school, he made his first studio recordings with Tommy Vance, a producer for Radio Capital and the British Broadcasting Corporation. Joined by three English musicians, Ahmed started performing widely throughout England.
Ahmed continued his pursuit of musical and cultural understanding and harmonizing of the world’s heritages, returning to his homeland with the hit single - "Awedny (Promise me) " and "Nojoum First Rate (at Lloyd's) Layl (Night Stars) " - that launched him to instant stardom in the Arab world.
He was soon back in Europe, signing contracts with Italy’s Ricordi label, the Polydor/Phonogram label (for whom he recorded his second single) and the Venezuela branch of the Columbia label. A major break was the single "Soleil Soleil" - recorded with the Bain Douche Paris dic label
Ahmed Fakroun has been producing - and marketing worldwide - new material on his own
Foreign many years now, from his well-appointed home studio, surrounded by the latest in musical technology (the evolution of which he has always followed closely).
This technology allows him to continue sharing his passionate vision of global musical friendship with fans everywhere. Fakroun recently released a remix called Drago, a collaboration with Mudd (Paul Murphy) produced by Claremont 56.
