Tebboun ment et insulte l'Espagne    Face à la décrépitude du Polisario, les gangs font régner la terreur dans les camps de Tindouf    Benkirane, Azzami et Bouanou en lice pour le poste de secrétaire général du PJD    Céréales. La FIAC et Takamoul misent sur l'agrégation digitale    Amethis entre au capital de la holding fondée par l'ex-ministre Mamoune Bouhdoud    Charbon. Le trader suisse Flame décroche un nouveau gros contrat avec l'ONEE    Balearia lance sa nouvelle ligne Tarifa–Tanger-Ville début mai    Nadia Fettah Alaoui fait la promotion du potentiel économique du Maroc auprès de l'Hudson Institute    Explosion dans un port en Iran : le bilan grimpe à au moins 28 morts    Coupe de la CAF : la RS Berkane pour confirmer à Constantine    An opponent of Morocco's sovereignty over the Sahara invited to the PJD congress    France : Islamophobic motive suspected in mosque worshipper's murder    Stadium vandalism in Casablanca : A reflection of broader social issues    SIEL 2025 : Le CCME rend hommage à Lalla Khiti Amina Benhachem Alaoui, première journaliste marocaine à la Radiotélévision belge    MAGAZINE : Jamal Boushaba, quatre années d'un aller simple    Pour le ministre nigérien des AE, Le Maroc est un "partenaire essentiel" pour les pays du Sahel    Aziz Akhannouch représente S.M. le Roi aux funérailles du Pape François    Installation des membres du Comité scientifique de la Chaire des études marocaines à l'Université d'Al-Qods    L'Algérie face au miroir de la vérité : mensonges internes et désillusions internationales    CAF / Officiel: Confirmation du nouveau titre de M. Fouzi Lekjaâ    46e Championnat d'Afrique de judo : A la veille de la clôture, le Maroc 2e au tableau des médailles    Une délégation française prospecte les opportunités d'investissement à Dakhla-Oued Eddahab    Hudson Institute. Le Maroc, un partenaire "de confiance, incontournable" des Etats-Unis    Agriculture : le Nigeria déploie un nouveau mécanisme pour stabiliser les prix des produits alimentaires    Températures prévues pour le dimanche 27 avril 2025    Huile d'olive. 12 producteurs primés au SIAM 2025    "Nous avons repensé l'organisation pour améliorer l'accès et valoriser les pôles clés" , Kamal Hidane.    Au moins 400.000 personnes ont assisté aux funérailles du pape    Le temps qu'il fera ce dimanche 27 avril 2025    Fouzi Lekjaa nommé premier vice-président de la CAF    Espagne : le FC Barcelone s'adjuge sa 32è Copa Del Rey    Istanbul anatolienne...quand la ville dévoile son âme    Belgrade : la photographe Dolores Leila Vukanovic rend hommage à la beauté du Maroc    SIEL 2025 : Le Prix National de la Lecture décerné à 10 lauréats    Un opposant à la marocanité du Sahara convié au congrès du PJD    Diaspo #386 : Ayman Ramdani, le sport et la culture pour l'autonomisation des jeunes    Gard : Piste islamophobe dans le meurtre d'un fidèle dans une mosquée    Congrès du Parti de la Justice et du Développement : d'une tribune politique à une plateforme portant atteinte aux constantes nationales    Le congrès du Parti de la Justice et du Développement provoque la colère des Marocains en raison des positions de ses invités    Pâturage nomade et dommages à Agadir : Le PPS interpelle l'Intérieur    Grand Prix Moulay El Hassan : Les anges gardiens du meeting    COMEDIABLANCA : quand l'humour marocain s'affirme comme une force culturelle majeure    500 Médecins Généralistes en Réunion de formation médicale continue à Tanger    La météo pour ce samedi 26 avril    Résultats de la 9ème édition du Grand Prix National de la Presse Agricole et Rurale    SIEL 2025 : Des illustrateurs marocains valorisent le patrimoine de Rabat    La Chine dément toute négociation commerciale avec Washington : pas de consultations ni d'accord en vue    CAN futsal : Le Maroc bat le Cameroun et file en demi-finale    







Merci d'avoir signalé!
Cette image sera automatiquement bloquée après qu'elle soit signalée par plusieurs personnes.



Diaspo #85 : Nour Eddine Fatty, a street musician who conquered Italy
Publié dans Yabiladi le 30 - 03 - 2019

From Ouezzane to Rome, a long journey that made of Nour Eddine Fatty a world-famous musician. His music is a mix between jajouka, Arab-Andalusian and Sicilian rhythms. He rose to fame after roaming Italy as a street musician.
«Basically, I am a street musician and I will always remain one on the inside». This is how Nour Eddine Fatty modestly summarizes his journey as a Moroccan musician in Italy. He was fascinated with music since the age of six and he was able to have his own style, getting inspired by several cultures.
He left Morocco for Italy in 1993, as an irregular migrant, to become today a reference in the music and movies industry and a virtuoso in the Vatican. He is now a famous figure in Europe and in the Middle East.
Born in Zrizrat, a village near Ouezzane, Nour Eddine grew up in the city and spent his childhood there before immigrating to Italy. He learned to play the flute when he was 6 years old. «My grandfather, Maalam Ahmed Ben Redouan, from the Aissaouia brotherhood, was a great Ghaita master. Without him attending, Sheikh El Kamel's moussem in Meknes would not start, because he was a reference of the Aissaou music in northern Morocco. I come from an Aissaoui tribe and that is why music is in my genes», he told Yabiladi.
«When I was young, my grandfather made me flutes. At the age of eight, I used to accompany the herd with my instrument. It's the same one I kept with me until I left for Italy. I remember playing it in concerts in Florence, Venice and the most beautiful tourist sites in several countries».
Nour Eddine Fatty
Once in Rome, the musician was amazed by «the beauty of the country and the goodness of its inhabitants». He then decided to melt in, discovering the culture, learning Italian and working as a farm worker in vineyards and olive groves. «It was hard to afford daily needs and rent», he recalls. Once his shift at the fields finishes, he starts rehearsing before performing at metro stations in the Italian capital.
At some point, Nour Eddine realized that his flute did not have a great musical impact on passers-by. He then decided to buy a guitar that he used, after receiving a textbook on the basic musical notes from a church. This new instrument was accompanied by Arabic songs, with Andalusian, Calabrian and Sicilian rhythms. «It is a common Mediterranean heritage that brings us together», the artist explained.
Shortly after, Nour Eddine Fatty decided to devote himself entirely to perfecting his flute, guitar, but also lute and percussion playing. He used to perform, on a daily basis, in metro stations eight hours a day, creating friendly relations with residents.
From the streets of Italy to European theaters
After three years of full-time street music, Nour Eddine Fatty managed to improve his performances. He was able to work on his voice, the harmony between his songs and his playing, all while developing an artistic charisma.
Near the subway, he was spotted by Italian musician Tony Esposito, who heard him singing in Arabic. He then asked him to help him create a soundtrack for «Storie d'amore con i crampi», a movie shot in Tunisia by Italian filmmaker and playwright Pino Quartullo.
«It was my first time in a studio. He was so pleased with my work. We co-created the soundtrack of the album, where I played the lute and percussion. It was the start of my career».
Nour Eddine Fatty
The soundtrack was so original that Nour Eddine Fatty was distinguished by the Luce Institute. He also received several awards in film festivals, starting a career in the Italian music industry. His music was used in six films that marked the history of the Italian cinema industry in the 1990s.
Nour Eddine Fatty then started composing music on his own for film producers. His work attracted musicologists, intellectuals and researchers. Working independently, he got invited to concerts in the most beautiful scenes in Italy, such as the Auditorium Parco della Musica.
Music as a key to coexistence
From 1997 to 2013, Nour Eddine Fatty released 13 records, five of them were typically Moroccan. As for other albums, they were a fusion between the music of his country and Jazz, Tarantella, Arab-Andalusian and North African music.
After the 9/11 attacks, he released an album entitled Coexist, mixing Jajouka music and the Aissaoui melodies, he learned from his grandfather, with Sephardic sounds and techno music.
«These types of music embodied coexistence, they were a representation of life in a common society despite the differences. After the September 11 attacks people changed their ideas about Muslims and the Arab culture. I made this album, working with Jews and Christians».
Nour Eddine Fatty
Taking a philosophical dimension, the album attracted the attention of the Italian media. Its author was interviewed by radios and televisions in the Vatican. «In 2005, Pope John Paul II, at the time, organized a big concert in the Vatican auditorium to convey a message of peace and I was the main guest. My efforts to convey a message of coexistence in society were recognized», recalls Nour Eddine.
Distributed worldwide by Universal, Coexist was widely sold in Italy, France, Spain, Germany, but also in the UAE and Turkey. An eponymous piece in this album, a track is selected by Benedict XVI for the official Vatican playlist.
Building a bridge
Far from being disconnected from the musical scene in Morocco, Nour Eddine Fatty considers that «there are young people today who make very interesting musical productions, which must be encouraged and accompanied in a professional manner». In this sense, he says he designed in 2009 a film where he follows several talents of the new Moroccan scene, including H-Kayne, Fnair, and young rappers and musicians in their first steps.
Nour Eddine Fatty also aspires to perform one day on stage in his country of origin, because this has never happened before. Indeed, his long journey is appreciated especially by the connoisseurs of musical research in Morocco.
«I do not do show-business and pop, I do dance mergers but with a philosophical vision, so the programmers that interest Morocco are not those who seek to bring singers to get a full auditorium or fill the stands of a festival conceived in a vision of mass culture».
Nour Eddine Fatty
Today, the maestro is also dedicated to writing. Soon, in Italy, he will release a novel inspired by his experience as a migrant, co-written with a Sicilian writer to tell the story and the crossed experience of two foreigners to the environment of Rome, and that the city evolved inside of it over decades. His dream is to publish it in Morocco too, in French or in Arabic. «It will be ideal», says the one who wants to give hope to young people in their ability to reach for their dreams through their own means.


Cliquez ici pour lire l'article depuis sa source.