WOMAD

Amina

From France, Tunisia

AMINABiography supplied by artists management, Sept 2002:“I’m interested in many musics,” explains Amina. “ I think of my voice as an instrument. I’m like a free spirit, a gypsy voice.”And that’s the perfect way to describe her voice, a woman who can move from a haunting Arabic cover of Billie Holiday’s torch classic “My Man” to an entry in the Eurovision song contest and then to hard techno and garage. She’s someone who’s never seen the boundaries in music.Born in 1962 in Carthage, Tunisia, the women in Amina’s family always made music. Her grandmother played the oud, and her mother sang - although just at home, since women of good backgrounds didn’t perform in public. From them Amina learned the Maghrebi music that’s still at her heart.When she was 12, the family moved to France, in search of economic opportunity, and a whole new world opened. Suddenly, in addition to Tunisian music and Arabic idol Oum Kalthoum, she was exposed to James Brown, jazz, and Western pop. Amina developed her voice, and attended the Conservatoire briefly for some formal musical training.“I grew up with two cultures,” she explains, “I speak Arabic and French, and I work with both cultures, which isn’t the case for many people.”Her career began in earnest in 1986, when she released her first single, rapping over a piece of music from Grandmaster Flash. But after that it was three years before she released her debut album, Yalil, produced by Martin Meissonnier, whose credits included King Sunny Ade’s breakthrough international record.Yalil was an adventurous release, but it immediately established Amina in France, with “Belly Dance” rising up the charts, a mix of her sinuous vocals, pulsing North African rhythm, and a sample taken from James Brown’s “Cold Sweat.”But it was 1991 that saw her move to superstardom, when she sang “Le Dernier Qui A Parlé,” France’s winning entry in the prestigious Eurovision Song Contest. Co-written with Senegalese musician Wasis Diop, it pushed the envelope, embracing strings, hip-hop beats, and an African melody, in addition to lyrics that alluded to the world’s political situation. “It was the Gulf War, and I was representing the Arabs in France,” recalls Amina. “If the words hadn’t been political, I wouldn’t have gone; that was very important to me.”To return the favor, she added her voice to Diop’s own album, and guested on a disc by world music legend Manu Dibango, the power behind the seminal “Soul Makossa.”1992 brought Wadi yé, which stretched Amina’s musical boundaries even further. Produced by both Meissonnier and Diop, it was a world fusion record in the days before that even existed. The roots remained firmly Arabic, but the branches touched West Africa and Europe, and brought them all together. The record won her the French decoration, Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres - an acknowledgment of her stature as an artist.At that point it would have been easy for Amina to capitalize on her popularity and release a string of albums. But it wouldn’t have been satisfying. Instead she became a vocal explorer, lending her talent to any number of diverse projects. She sang with Afrika Bambaata, one of the godfathers of modern dance music, in addition to Lenny Kravitz’s “Give Peace a Chance,” the album “Music and Colours” by Steven Duffy & Nigel Kennedy, and Malcom MacLaren’s “Paris” album. It was all experience, and, as she laughs, “at least I don’t get bored, and people don’t get bored with me.”She also pursued an acting career, appearing in Bertolucci’s Sheltering Sky, and The Advocate, with Colin Firth and Donald Pleasance. From there it was a short step to soundtrack work, and Amina appeared on cuts for IP5, Odysseus, and duetted with the late, great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan on a track for Dead Man Walking.By 1999 she was ready to return to the studio for her third album, Annabi (which is her last name). The experiences of the last few years had taught her a great deal, and she’d kept her ears open to new sounds.“It had jungle and trip-hop,” she explains. “I had many producers like Renegade Soundwave, Mark Sanders. I wanted to go in that direction, to mix jungle beats with Arabic music and new sounds with Arabic melodies.”That was exactly what it did, on tracks like the hit single “Dis-Moi Pourquoi.” But she continued to takes chances, and none greater than her interpretation of the standard “My Man,” by her favorite singer, Billie Holiday. “I’d been doing Billie Holiday songs with Arabic instruments,” she says. “I did “My Man” in English, but with an Arabic accent, and Arabic way of singing, Arabic strings.”It worked, the jazzy inflections blending perfectly with the strings and Amina’s swooping, sensuous heartache.Annabi was an artistic landmark in her career, but in the two years since then she’s moved even further.“I’m been invited to work with a lot of people, like hip-hop star, Imhotep. I’ve worked with Nigel Kennedy and Stephen Duffy again, on a track for their new album.” She’s cut a track with former Eurhythmic Dave Stewart, and she’s recorded and performed with London-based Moroccan DJ, U-Cef.“Last year he was on Central Park Summerstage and he invited me to sing with him. Now we’re recording an Oum Khalthoum song, and he’s remixing it in a garage style. I’m singing in a very harsh way, not the Egyptian way, which will be really shocking.”As that that wasn’t enough, she’s hard at work preparing her new album, and touring, having just finished a number of dates in Africa. And finally, her work is being released in America. “Dis-Moi Pourquoi” was featured on the compilation Desert Rose and Arabian Rhythms, and now The Best of Amina is appearing on Mondo Melodia Records.“In America people don’t know my work, so this is an introduction.” In addition to her best-known material, “ I did two new tracks with an Arabic band, including one song that was more Tunisian and traditional.”Amina refuses to be pigeonholed. Her music goes wherever her Muse takes her, and that’s exactly the way she wants it. “Perhaps I can do an album of children’s songs,” she says thoughtfully, “or one of jazz, or one that’s techno and garage. I feel free to sing what I want.”Amina will be accompanied by Tekeyan Julien on Drums, Therese Regis on Bass, Ferre Jean Baptiste on Keyboards, Ben Said Sami on Keyboards, Beghdad Nasr-Eddine on Violin and Steve Shehan on Percussion2001 BiographyLike music everywhere, the sounds of North Africa have been undergoing a steady modernisation over the past few decades and, thanks partly to the pioneering work of Amina, we can now marvel and groove to Algerian hip hop or Moroccan drum and bass. Born in Tunisia, Amina Annabi came to France at the age of 12. Her early musical horizons, over which Oum Khalthoum, Billie Holiday and James Brown loomed large, expanded steadily after a stint at the Paris Conservatory - but she didn’t let the strictures of classical training rein in a growing awareness of the musical mayhem firing off in every corner of the French capital and beyond. In 1986 she teamed up with Grand Master Flash to record a rap single and three years later she released her debut album ‘Yalil’ which featured the Eurovision Song Contest entry "Le Dernier Qui Parle". Since then she has worked with a long and impressive list of co-inspirators; Afrika Bambaata, Wasis Diop, Manu Dibango, Lenny Kravitz, Malcolm MacLaren, Hank Jones and Cheikh Tidiane Seck. The truth is that Amina has a voice to die for, with the power and elasticity to cope with the most demanding Arabic inflections and licks. This gift, combined with an insatiable musical adventurousness has opened many doors, including that of the Pope, for whom Amina performed late last year. Her love of film and her magnetic beauty has propelled her into the realm of celluloid with a cameo role in Bertolucci’s ‘The Sheltering Sky’ and soundtrack contributions to films by Tim Robbins and Jean-Jacques Beneix. Her most recent album ‘Annabi’, released last year, confirmed her status as one of the most innovative singers and musicians in the Franco-Arabic firmament. Biography by Andy Morgan, June 2001