Mehdi Nassouli

(Morocco)

Mehdi Nassouli by Hicham Laabd
  • event type:WOMEX 16 Showcase
  • date:21 Oct 2016
  • time:22:30 - 23:15
  • city/area:Santiago de Compostela, Galicia
  • venue:Twin Stage A, Praza da Quintana
  • country:Spain
  • event posted by:Piranha Arts

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Mehdi Nassouli grew up immersed in Morocco’s Gnawa culture. A prodigious musical talent, he learnt to play a wide range of instruments at an early age, becoming especially passionate about the three-stringed plucked lute, the guembri. Before embarking on his international career, he spent a decade criss-crossing Morocco, studying the diverse regional musical disciplines under some of the leading exponents of the instrument.

Open to the fusion of musical genres, he has since crossed continents, collaborating with many prominent international artists. He worked together with French guitarist Titi Robin for five years – notably on the 2012 Les Rives project and their joint 2015 album Taziri – and has performed with Fatoumata Diawara, Benjamin Taubkin, Justin Adams, Herbie Hancock and Alpha Blondy, merging traditional African, Amazigh and Gnawa music with sounds of the wider world.

Mehdi Nassouli - lead vocals, ghaita, guembri, taloutart
Halimi Walide - bass, backing vocals
Ismaayl Jabione drums, backing vocals
Anas Chlih - outar, backing vocals
Younes Akhraz - keyboard, backing vocals
Youness Amribti - guitar, backing vocals