Literally "Ambassy of the Invisible", SEFARAT' AL KHAFAÂ offers a peculiar synthesis of Afro-Maghrebi and European musics sharing the exploration, interrogation and invocation of the "subtle".
The Gnawa's music has become the main reference and inspiration as it is, inherently, dedicated to communicate with the "invisible".
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ABDOU BEKHECHI karkabous_darbouka_bendir_lead vocals He created the “Boukakes” in 1996 and performed nationally and internationally,
notably as the opener of Rachid Taha, Zebda, the Skatalites...
At the same time, he collaborated on the creation of the band Wah (opening act
of Earth Wind and Fire, Jacques Higelin, Ceux qui Marchent Debout ...). He also
contributed to the surge of the band Sarai and is known for being a “outspoken
singer with a strong character”, as well as a “desert wise”. The “French Gnawa”
can rely on his wide knowledge of Maghrebi musical traditions (Gnawa, Ahwach,
Châabi, Alawi, Arabo-andalousian...).
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ALAIN BARBIERO saxophones_flute_clarinet_vocals Graduate of the IMFP (Salon de Provence) in 1997.
As an experienced improviser and brass section musician, he has collaborated on
many musicals projects, e.g. Hot Urbain (Hard Funk), Yamtchik (Gipsy Jazz), Dig
Dong Brass (Brass Band), N'gwo Ka (West Indian Music), Brother Got One
(electro-jazz), K'assos (Rythm'n Blues)
He also leads his own jazz combo, the “Al Barbiero Quartet”.
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JEAN-LUC BORLA bass_guembre_vocals Guitarist and bass player, he's started with pop and rock (Les 12, Chitchen
Itza, les Opportunistes, Poinalbouc Orchestral, Sticky Fingers ...).
From 1996 to 2005 he performs with Chico and The Gypsies (Dubaï, Turkey,
Germany, Monaco, France...). He's also created musics for theatre and dance
shows (l’Olivier - Istres / Mark Tompkins), film scores for institutional movies
and youth theatre. In 2001 he started specializing in the creation of website
soundtracks and “Mobile Web Applications” for record labels and independent
musicians. Astounded by the Gwana's music in 2008, he's been since initiated
into guembre's technique.
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DAWOUD BOUNABI drums_percussions_vocals Graduate of the MAI music school (Nancy) in 1994, Dawoud is an “ethnic jazz”
drummer. He joined several bands such as le Diwan de Mona, Misère et Cordes, Al
Barbiero Quartet, Anoune, Fwad Darwich & Dialects, Saf Sap...
He then built on his teaching skills to create the DVD “from 12/8 to 4/4” and
offers “Master Classes” taking place in many international courses (Summer Drums
Show - La Grande Motte, Summer Camp - Nevers and Cosne sur Loire, Tam Tam -
Montluçon...).
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JEROME DRU guitar_karkabous_vocals Eclectic and poly-ethnic guitarist, he instils his "multi-lack-of-discipline" in
a variety of styles such as funk-rock (Putsch), North-African and oriental
musics (Saraï, Derya Ogün, Mohammed Zeftari, Dar French Gnawa, S’aK), jazz
and improvised musics (KingKong, Quintet Zimpro, Pierre Coulon-Cerisier
WiredSystem, le Confort du Foie, BGO), electro (e-WozZ), jungle (MoSound),
polyphonic songs (Vespas), theatre (soundtracks for companies such as TNT, La
Rampe TIO, La Mangoune ...), dance (Verde Luna with Bruno Pradet, Le Nouveau
Monde with Cie Yann Lheureux) or contemporary-art experiences (Jean Morières,
Pascale Labbé, the Bal Ultra-Moderne...).
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DAJAHDEE guembre_balafon_karkabous_vocals He spent 4 years with Maâlem Azouz Soudani (cofounder of the Tyour Gnawa band)
who initiated him to the Gnawa customs and traditions (dance, songs, karkabous,
guembre). He attended many Gnawa celebrations at Essaouira, Marocco. Back to
France, he then created the ADD Jazz Trio (awarded in the 2008 Jazz festival in
Porquerolles, France) and became a cofounder of the Gnawa Tribe Collective
(including ADFG, ADD and Serafat’ al Khafaâ).
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YOHAN FAYOLLE-RINGER trombone_tuba_vocals Autodidact trombonist and tuba player, passionate by improvised music, he has
been part of many street music bands as well as traditional, funk and jazz bands
(Dig Dong Brass, Al Barbiero Quartet ...)
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GUIOM REGNIER keyboards_vocals He studied classical piano with Thomas Girard and jazz with Frank van Royen, at
the IMFP (Salon-de-Provence) with the pianists Pierre Camas and Mario Stanchev.
He has been performing with many bands such as Sweet Soul (funk-soul), Morning
(a jazz quartet he created ; opener of Ph. Petrucciani, Francesco
Castellani...), performs in USA, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Poland with “Les
Voix Provençales”, “Le Condor”. He has also been part of the “Gipsy All Stars”
project directed by Mario Reyes, (with the collaboration of Al di Meola),
performed with the Gitano Family (Dubaï ...) with Wah (with the collaboration of
A. Bekhechi), Saï-Saï (Marrakech). He is the sideman of many modern music
records as well (Nationale 7, IC June, Agathe, EKZ...).
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| “The music has the ability to reveal the unseen, to let show the hidden
part of the world's reality. Art, if it is what we are talking about, would consist in establishing, from the perception and the expression of the tangible, a communication with the invisible world, a resonance between our -individual and collective- inwardness and the cosmos ! Refering to ancient traditions such as the Gnawa's mean to take into consideration a picturing of the world through the "non-manifest", the symbolic ... the magical. Proposing an "imaginary" music, which means to explore forms, to find languages, to have recourse to a symbolic images system, come close to the same will of picturing the world -or the worlds-... perceptibly revealed by the musicians- "purveyors", interpreters of the signs and, why not, "re-finder" of the myths. That's what is leading us to consider the use of music under a specific point of view : the one who let feel and experience the unspeakable and the "unshowable", even though we can perceive and have access to a sacred dimension and a sensible knowledge without which we might forget a part of our humanity.“ Marcel Roumi |