Abdel Hadi Halo

• Genres: World

Biography

Algerian pianist Abdel Hadi Halo is one of the few modern luminaries of the North African chaabi musical style, so much so that his story is inextricably tied to the proud genre and religion-crossing musical tradition that he helped revitalize. Chaabi experienced its heyday in the 1940s and '50s. The mix of Arabic, North African berber styles, French chanson, American boogie, and Latin American musical styles was a product of the cultural melting pot that was Algiers during that period. American troops, native Jews, Spanish influence via Andalusia, and the various Arabic peoples shared a religiously, linguistically, and ethnically diverse community that lived in harmony. Chaabi music was the result, composed of Arabs, Jews, Americans, and North Africans in immense ensembles including instruments like quanoun, oud, darboukah, violin, piano, bongo, accordion, and more. Abdel Hadi Halo's father ran a conservatory teaching chaabi music until its closing in 1974.

Chaabi was soon replaced by more modern musical styles, and the religiously tolerant communities in which it lived were destroyed by revolution, sending large numbers of Algerian Jews to seek refuge in Europe. In 2003 a documentary filmmaker, Safinez Bousbia, took interest and decided to track down chaabi's remaining proponents, which led him directly to Halo. Bousbia convinced Halo to collaborate on a Buena Vista Social Club-style film to bring chaabi back into public focus. Although the politics of the day made the task difficult, Halo assembled a 42-piece group named El Gusto Orchestra, of which he was the musical director. A film and album were created, recorded on the fifth floor of now rickety conservatory once run by Halo's father. The musicians, ranging in age from 70 to 90 years of age, recorded an album entitled Abdel Hadi Halo & the El Gusto Orchestra of Algiers, which would soon top world music charts all over Europe. The ensemble's Jewish musicians would not travel to Algiers, so Halo transported their Muslim counterparts to Marseilles for their debut performance in 2006. ~ Evan C. Gutierrez, Rovi