Career
He is one of the few living artists to have performed with artists such as Lili Labassi, Lincolnshire Monty, Lili Boniche, Samy el Maghribi, and Reinette l’Oranaise. He is also a professional tailor and took up initially music as a hobby. Born in the Jewish quarter of Oran, in a family of musicians.
He is sometimes regarded as the grandfather of Algerian popular music
Following the Algerian war of independence he moved to Paris, France, where he worked as a tailor as well as occasionally backing Jewish singers. In 1967 to Marseilles where he opened a clothing factory and took a break from his musical career, which he resumed in the 1980s.
He is currently based in France, and can be caught live performing solo or with other Arab-French and Jewish-French artists, such as Mahmoud Fadl, the Klezmatics, as well as playing alongside musicians who had originally accompanied him nearly half a century earlier in Algeria and France.
