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Formed in the late '90s, Fantazia emerged from multicultural Hackney, N.E. London, with their unique blend of North African and other influences, rapidly establishing themselves as a distinctive voice on the British music scene. Their self-produced debut CD 'The Lost Place' (2000) enhanced their reputation, receiving airplay throughout Europe, while the power of their live performances spread the word further in the UK.
Fantazia's Spring 2003 UK tour, supported by The Arts Council of England, saw the band expanding into an even more exciting nine-piece unit: a multicultural band of musicians from Algeria and the UK, with the soaring vocals of Mourad Simba, oud, sax, flute, violin, trumpet, keyboards, derbouka, bass and drums - featuring, also, the inimitable North African dancing of Najma.
Fantazia’s festival appearances include Bracknell Festival, The Oris London Jazz Festival, Window on the World (WOW), Glastonbury, Brampton Live, Fest Noz, Sheep Music, Hubble Bubble Festival and Morecambe Worldbeat Festival. They have performed at a wide range of venues including The Hackney Empire and The Forum, Kentish Town, and completed three tours supported by the Arts Council of England. Fantazia have also appeared live on Carlton TV’s The Warehouse, BBC World Service, Charlie Gillett’s BBC London show, BBC Radio 4’s Loose Ends. and BBC Radio 3’s World Music Day 1/1/2001. In 2002, Algerian radio made a half-hour programme about the band.
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Yazid Fentazi - oud, guitar, djembe, percussion, zurna, vocals
Yazid is the oud player and composer of the band. He first learned guitar by listening to Beatles albums, subsequently taking up the oud, the ancient Arab lute which is the predecessor of the European lute. He became a prominent musician in the Algerian music scene, backing not only Cheb Mami but also Chaba Fadela and Cheb Sahraoui, touring with the Turqui Brothers in Morocco, Russia and Europe and playing with Fateh Ben Lala (Orchestra National De Barbes). Yazid's abilities as both composer and player have brought work in film music and with Robert Plant (at the Royal Albert Hall), Ali Slimani (at WOMAD and on the CD 'Espoir - Hope') and Dreamcatcher. In October 2004, he toured Europe with Ali, Natacha Atlas and U-Cef.
oud - www.kairarecords.com/oudpage/Oud.htm
Orchestra National De Barbes - webtunes.com/artist/o/onb.cfm
Natacha Atlas - natachaatlas.net
Ali Slimani - www.alislimani.co.uk/upgrade.html |
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Rachel Bartlett - tenor and soprano saxophones, flute, zurna
Rachel first became involved in African music when she joined Orchestra Jazira in the mid-80s, one of the pioneering African groups of that time. She was also a long-standing member of The Happy End, a big band which brought together folk and world music. More recently her involvement has been with jazz and world music - with Zubop, The John Bennett Band, The Transisters, her own quartet and others. She has toured in Europe, Canada and Ghana.
Zubop - www.zubop.com
The Transisters - www.jazzservices.org.uk/band/bandt/Transisters.htm
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Karim Dellali - percussion, vocals
From Algeria, Karim plays the derbouka, djembe and other percussion instruments. He has played with Joi, Oojami and Trevor Watts Moiré Music and is very active as a DJ. He has always surrounded himself with both North African music and Western music, has worked on the management side of the music industry and is also associated with the excellent Camberwell club The Couscous Lounge.
Joi - realworldrecords.com/legacy/joi/
Oojami - www.mondomelodia.com/oojami.htm
Trevor Watts Moiré Music - trevorwatts.whistlingmule.com/
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Hamid Bouri - electric bass
A founding member of Fantazia, and bassist on The Lost Place, Hamid played with the group from 1996 to 2001, when he moved to Los Angeles to set up a USA Head Office for the world famous guitar/bass string company, Rotosound Strings. Whilst out in LA, he played with LA based bands Black Cat and Primitivo. He returned to the UK in 2005, and Fantazia were very happy to welcome him back to the band. Born in Algiers and raised in Algeria and England, the two strands of his background influence his music, and he really enjoys combining traditional and contemporary styles. From the mid 80s to the formation of Fantazia, he played in various rock/funk/reggae bands. He was a member of the reggae/punk band RDF (Radical Dance Faction) and enjoyed touring all over the UK with legendary psychedelic rockers Hawkwind in 1991. During the 90's, he started performing with Algerian singers such as Ali Slimani, Abdelli, Cheb Djolti, Abdelkader Saadoun and Cheb Nassim, as well as the ethnic-techno band CrimeLab.
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Sean Randle - drum kit, percussion
An experienced drummer in many different styles, Sean has played in a wide range of bands, from the cajun, tex-mex influenced Bootfare to big band world music with The Happy End and Gail Thompson's Jazz Africa. He currently plays with pop band Panico, worldbeat music groups Zubop and ZubopGambia, acoustic pop band The Tin Pots and in a variety of jazz contexts.
Zubop - www.zubop.com
ZubopGambia - www.zubop.com/page.cfm?pageid=gambia
The Tin Pots - www.tinpots.com
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Frank Biddulph - violin
Frank is a violinist whose individual improvising style has been heard on recordings with The Waterboys and Stereo MCs, and in a wide variety of jazz ensembles. He has toured the Czech Republic and Hungary with Mukka, who play North African and Eastern European music, and in the USA with Maurice El Medioni.
Mukka - www.cathorseandtree.co.uk/mukka/
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Fawzi - piano, keyboards, percussion, vocals
An accomplished composer, arranger and player, Fawzi recently arrived from Algeria, where he worked with many bands in many styles, from salsa (having travelled to Cuba and played there with Cuban musicians), flamenco, rai and Egyptian oriental to performing with members of Kool and The Gang. He is a dazzling keyboard player with very broad musical knowledge and an authentic oriental sound on his instruments. |
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Andy Mellon - trumpet
A very versatile musician, Andy regularly performs with Fantazia, Menlo
Park, Kings Of Swing (a Tribute to the Rat Pack) and Bellowhead, as well as freelancing on both piano and trumpet with various jazz, funk and tribute bands. He also plays trumpet with numerous symphony and chamber orchestras, and has performed at many major music festivals and venues across Europe, broadcasting for BBC TV and radio and elsewhere. Andy has appeared on many albums and on soundtracks for adverts, films and television for companies such as The Pop Factory and Sony/BMG. He is currently working on an album of his own original compositions.
Menlo Park - website.lineone.net/~menlopark/
Bellowhead - www.bellowhead.co.uk
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Najma - Dance
Najma has appeared many times with Fantazia. She runs her very popular dance classes in London, and she has danced with many UK-based North African bands including Ali Slimani and Seddik Zebiri's Seeds of Creation. (Available by special arrangement).
“I have never enjoyed a dancer so much - she has a wonderful balance of humour, sensuality and elegance. It was fascinating to watch her 'melt' the audience . . .” Charlie Gillett
Seddik Zebiri's Seeds of Creation |
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