Biography "Songs of Exile"

Abdelli Abderrahmane is an Algerian singer, author and composer. During the Algerian War of Independence, whilst his mother was still pregnant, his parents’ village of Kennour was bombed by the French air force. They were forced to flee to the Behalil commune of Afir, which borders the great forest of Mizrana in Kabylia, where Abdelli was born. A year later, the family were forced on again to a town located along the Mediterranean coastline, called Dellys. This was Abdelli’s first experience of exile, a problem that cast a prominent shadow throughout his life.
Dellys became the birthplace of his musical career, with the Mediterranean Sea being a strong source of inspiration. He made his first guitar from an empty oil can, a wooden board and fishing line, and was just sixteen when he made his debut at the Algerian Independence Festival in 1974.
Abdelli discovered the mandola after hearing the Chaabi musician Chaïd Moh-Esguir (later to become his master). This led to his debut album Ayem-yema, released in 1986. But like so many other Kabyle artists, Abdelli ran into bureaucratic obstacles preventing him from expressing himself freely in his native Berber language. Frustrated by these unjust constraints, imposed on many Kabyle artists who were banned from playing in concerts and theatres, he chose to go into exile.
In September 1986, he flew to Denmark, via Brussels, with hopes and dreams of a new life. Unfortunately, this adventure ended abruptly as he was refused entrance at the border with no reasonable explanation as to why. Algerian injustice, which he thought he was fleeing, seemed to be hiding behind every door. Abdelli found himself alone, abandoned and confused; the feelings widely felt by many victims of exile. He set off with his mandola to explore Brussels' city centre and pass the time.
While exploring, he met a guitarist playing the crowds at Gare du Nord (Brussels). The musician, spotting Abdelli’s mandola, encouraged him to take his place. Abdelli closed his eyes and began to sing in Kabyle. Everybody applauded with great ethusiasm, he says: “I was very moved and touched by their warm encouragement. It did me a lot of good. They made me want to love and respect what I could do even more so than before”. Following this, a young North African boy named Farid encouraged Abdelli to play at the Grand Place. He promised it was “where all the musicians of the world, passing through Brussels, come to play”. As a thank you for this advice Abdelli offered to share half of his earnings with him. Farid said that he had done nothing out of the ordinary that should deserve such treatment. Abdelli still believes to this day that Farid was a guardian angel sent from above in a time of displacement and loneliness.
In fact, it was a stone's throw from the Grand Place that Abdelli met his future good friend Henri Bernard. Henri approached him and asked what language he was singing. After learning it was Kabyle, Henri spoke of how he was familiar with their history, and their legitimate and peaceful struggle for the recognition of their Berber culture. Abdelli was later to learn that Henri was a trade unionist and founder of the AQL (Association du Quartier Léopold).
Discovering Abdelli had no plans that night, Henri invited him for dinner at a local Moroccan café, owned by a Berber from Berkane and mainly visited by Riffians. Abdelli was invited to perform, and although the Berber language was initially everywhere north of the Sahel and the Canary Islands (Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco, etc.), the customers that evening did not understand the words. It must be said that, over time, the Berber language has lost its originality by the introduction of other languages, such as Arabic, French and Spanish.
Over the years, Abdelli and Henri became close friends. Henri received him into his family with open arms; he nurtured, hosted, and encouraged him to realise his dreams as an artist. Abdelli became an extended member of the family, later becoming godfather to Henri’s son.
Inspired by Henri’s encouragement and guidance, Abdelli continued his career as a musician. In 1989, he recorded his album New Moon, later to be released in 1995 on the prestigious British label Real World, created by Peter Gabriel. This was the start of his international career, as he was subsequently invited to perform all over the world from England to Canada, the United States to Europe, and Pakistan... This included the invitation from Yehudi Menuhin and Ravi Shankar to participate in the ‘From the Guitar to the Sitar’ festival in Brussels. Abdelli has since been involved in numerous collaborations with artists such as Loreena McKennitt, Natacha Atlas and Hossam Ramzy. He also composed the score for the film Beyond Gibraltar.
Abdelli was asked to be Peter Gabriel’s supporting act during his ‘Growing Up’ tour in 2002, and in 2003 he released his second album, Among Brothers, on the Real World label. This album won the award for ‘Best Album of 2003’ in the world music category from the Belgian newspaper Le Soir. Abdelli’s success with Among Brothers lead to more worldwide tours, taking him and his musicians to Pakistan, Morocco, the United States, Canada, France and Switzerland. Not to mention the major festivals such as the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Festival Grand Performances Los Angeles and WOMAD to name a few.
In 2008, Abdelli stopped touring to work on a new album, Destiny. With recordings from Lahore (Pakistan), Montréal, and Brussels, this album also focused on exile, loss and nostalgia via Kabyle music, while blending modern and traditional influences from around the world. This album, Songs of Exile, began soon after Destiny was completed. Abdelli dropped all the studio material into a box with the idea of reopening it later. However, with the sudden death of his great friend Henri Bernard in October 2008, he felt compelled to revisit it sooner than expected.
He wanted to create an album in Henri’s memory, one that highlighted the feelings associated with exile, exodus, abandonment of his home and missing memories of his childhood. Henri himself was very attentive to the exile and the suffering of others. As a child, he was called “the stranger's son”, as his Czech mother had taken refuge and work in Belgium during the 1930s. In 1940, she fled to the south of France, this time to escape Nazi occupation, while her resistant husband was in hiding. With this personal history, it was no surprise that Henri took Abdelli under his wing and encouraged him to pursue his musical career honouring his true mother tongue. Abdelli appreciated this hand of friendship, given at a time when discrimination and injustice had swept him from his feet and left him alone in a foreign land.
Originally, Abdelli wanted the album to contain just vocals and mandola, as this was how Henri preferred to hear Abdelli play. However, as the project was shared with other musicians, each friend added a scent of their home country to the mix. With such a collaboration of talented artists wanting to get involved, how could Abdelli refuse? The result is an acknowledgment of the sad issues that shadow this world, mixed and uplifted by the inspiration and unity of different cultures. A deserved tribute to Mr. Henri Bernard and to all he has done for Abdelli.