This is a singer who hardly needs an introduction, but we’ll give him one anyway: began singing aged five; was performing with the group Les Cinq Étoiles by the age of fourteen; recorded his first solo album when he was fifteen; superstar in Algeria by the time he was twenty; world famous at the age of thirty. He has recorded over a dozen ‘official’ albums – a number that doesn’t include the hundreds of other releases on vinyl and cassette. By the 1990s he was no longer simply the ‘King of Raï’, but had earned himself a place among the giants of permanent standing in the history of popular music. We are proud to call Khaled a Druga Godba veteran. After waiting patiently, impatiently, for over a decade, we finally got our man – and indeed, this will be his third appearance at the festival since 2000. This time he’ll be showcasing his latest album La Liberté, whose release was postponed from last spring to this. The album was produced by Martin Meissonnier, who was responsible for recording the outstanding Kutché twenty years ago, and it is a measure of Khaled’s standing that La Liberté was available on the internet months in advance of its official release. His blazing charisma, radiant smile and distinctive voice, mesmerising and warm, require no further superlatives – they speak for themselves
Khaled Hadj Brahim – voice
Julien Tekeyan – drums
Maurice Zemmour – bass
David Aubaille – keyboards
Mustapha Didouh – keyboards
Alain Perez – guitar
Bachir Mokari – percussion
Allen Hoist – saxophone
Philippe Slominski – trumpet
Dominique Miletti – trombone, violin, guitar
Abdelouahed Zaim – lute
Mohamed K-Berkane – violin
Discography:
C’est la vie (AZ Records, 2012)
Liberté (Universal, 2009)
1, 2, 3 Soleils (Barclay, 1998) Khaled, Taha, Faudel
N’ssi n’ssi (Barclay, 1993)
Kutche (Stern’s, 1987) w/ Safy Boutella