AHMAD COMPAORÉ
Drummer / Composer / Improviser / Music Educator
Of Egyptian and Burkinabé origins, Ahmad Compaoré is a musician of freedom. With feet, fists and hands, he strikes, whips and strokes the brass of the cymbals and the skin of his drums. Ahmad has developed a career just like his personal history, based upon cultural encounters with musicians who have helped him build up an extraordinary destiny for himself.
There is, at the tip of his sticks or his fingers, an irrepressible energy rising from his toes as much as from his heart. The fact that he was privileged, with some young Marseilles colleagues, to work with Fred Frith and Albert Marcoeur for a few years, should not be seen as the tree that masks the forest, even if it proved to be a decisive encounter.
In his early years, his keen frequentation of local cultural facilities allowed him to attend, observe and use the many instruments lying around… But it is with percussion and more particularly the drum kit that he found himself at home. From this very moment, an ever growing thirst for musical knowledge was born. Ahmad was ever improving. His need to vanquish is immense.
At seventeen, he is discovered by Comorian guitarist and composer Ali Afandi. 1988/1989 saw him accompany the folk band Hari Na Hari and become part of many bands be it folk, rock or covers. 1990 is a turning point for Ahmad since Fred Frith, then in a eight-month residency in Marseilles, noticed the young budding drummer and hired him along with 14 other musicians to create the rock opera "Helter Skelter", staged by François-Michel Pesenti. 1991 saw the birth of the band Que d’la Gueule, formed of most of the Helter-Skelter musicians, leading to the touring of Europe major jazz scenes and the recording of the "Helter Skelter" album. In parallel, he teamed up with Ed Hosdikian, Farid Khenfouf, Richard Peter and Hakim Aghadda-Khattabi, to create the band Mais Bon, playing many local and international scenes.
In 1993, Ahmad left for Nancy where he took a two-year drum course at the Centre Musical et Créatif de Nancy (now M.A.I.) from which he majored highly commended. Back in Marseilles, Maggie Nicols called on him for the recording of the album "Méchantes" and invited him to play with the band at MIMI festival in 1994. Japanese percussionist Makoto Yabuki is in demand for Ahmad’s skills for the creation of Bamboo Orchestra de Marseille. Ahmad participated in the making of bamboo instruments and played with the orchestra in several festivals. The album "Také" is recorded in 1995. That same year, he invited balafonist Mahama Konaté (leader of the band Farafina) to come to Marseilles for a residency of creation in partnership with l’AMI (Aide aux Musiques Innovatrices). Fred Frith hired him for the Graphic Score gigs in Europe. Then, his performance with Michel Petrucciani, Barre Phillips and Tom Cora at the Aix-en-Provence festival is highly noticed by the audience.
In 1996, Ahmad joined an African groove band and toured France and beyond. The following year, he made a CD-Rom devoted to African arts for Arte Editions called “Arman, African art collector” for which he composed the song "Africa" with pianist Christine Wodrascka. He played many concerts with different ensembles such as Oriental Fusion (created with Hakim Hamadouche and Ed Hosdikian). In 1998, Reunion Island musical wiz Ti Fock invited him to join his band for many gigs in the south of France. In 1999, he recorded the "Oriental Fusion" album with such free jazz luminaries as Barre Phillips and Tom Cora, and tours France and abroad. At the Dansem festival in 2000, he gave an improvised performance with guitarist Jean-Marc Montera and dancer Michèle Ricozzi.
But this wealth of encounters is not limited to mere musical creation: in 2002, he met Egyptian choreographer and contemporary dancer Karima Mansour (MA'AT Company) who chose him as her partner for the duet "Temporament" for shows in France and Madagascar (2003). The same year, he participated in the creation of "La Mer Intérieure, Voix-Algérie", a musical play by Frédérique Wolf-Michaux. In December 2003, he gave a praised solo performance at the Nuit d’Hiver festival and started a tour in duo with longtime fellow musician Jean-Marc Montera.
After a whole year spent touring Tunisia, Egypt and France for "Temporament", Ahmad begins 2005 with the creation of "Opus Mêkhanê" in Limoges, an orchestral piece written by Gilles Colliard and Jean-Marc Montera mixing classical, contemporary and improvised music. Winner of the "Villa Médicis Hors les Murs" programme (AFAA) in 2005, he lived in India during 4 months to be initiated into the art of tabla by master Sree Debasish Dass. From 2006 to 2008, he contributed to many concerts and international festivals with Fred Frith, Barre Phillips, Vincent Segal, Butch Morris, Louis Sclavis, Marc Ribot and Jamaaladeen Tacuma.
The year 2007 is marked by the formation of the Ahmad Compaoré Quintet with Hervé Samb (David Murray's lead guitarist) proposing an original repertoire mixing unbridled jazz, afrobeat and electronic music. Recipient of the Culturesfrance "Hors les Murs" award in 2008, he moved to Tokyo for several months to carry out a creation project with various Japanese musicians (Otomo Yoshihide, Seigen Ono and Semba Kiyohiko).
Free from boundaries, he equally enjoys the most extreme experiences in alternative and improvised music, jazz and fusion. Involved in many projects, he was the regular drummer of bluesman Lucky Peterson during his European tour in 2018. He appears on over 30 albums and has performed all around the world: Germany, Spain, Japan, USA, Egypt, Morocco, India, Madagascar. Creator of the Musique Rebelle label, Ahmad Compaoré also teaches drums and contemporary percussion at the Friche la Belle de Mai, his place of residence in Marseilles. While giving concerts and master classes, he continues his journey on the road of rhythms, those of a musician without borders...
DISCOGRAPHY
- 2017 "Itinéraires" (Nafas) CD, La Boîte à Musique / Musique Rebelle - MR02
- 2017 "Gnawa Soul Experience" (Jamaaladeen Tacuma) CD, Jam All Productions - JAP-10
- 2016 "Double Quartet Serie #1" (Hifiklub) CD, Subsound Records - B01NAGRJQ0
- 2014 "Akaline Tigida" (Bibi Ahmed 4tet) CD, Embob Prod / Musique Rebelle - MR01
- 2013 "What’s up?" (Jean-Marc Montera) double CD, Radio France - SIG11086.87
- 2012 “Cordophony” (Philippe Petit & Friends) CD, Home Normal - homen035
- 2011 “Trio Compaoré” CD, Jam All Productions ASCAP - JAP2
- 2000 “Oriental Fusion” CD, Buda Musique/Transes Européennes - TE 025
- 1999 “Hallelujah, Anyway: remembering Tom Cora” CD, Tzadik - TZ 7602
- 1999 “Stone, Brick, Glass, Wood, Wire” (Fred Frith) CD, I Dischi di Angelica - IDA 014
- 1996 “Arman, collectionneur d’Art Africain” CD-Rom, HyperVision & Arte Editions
- 1995 “Také” (Bamboo Orchestra) CD, Stupeur et Trompette - ST 1007
- 1994 “Méchantes” (Maggie Nicols) CD, Stupeur et Trompette - ST 1003
- 1992 “Helter Skelter” (F. Frith & F.M. Pesenti) CD, RecRec Music - ReCDec 40
- 1991 “Mighty Risen Plea” LP, Sacred Frame - SF 01