Armand Amar, “Maryam”

Armand Amar, “Maryam”, Featuring Hamza Shakour, From the Movie Soundtrack Album “Bab’ AzĀz”

Born to parents of French-Moroccan origins in 1953, Armand Amar was born in Jerusalem and spent his childhood in Morocco. Extra-European music, imbued with the sounds of instruments considered exotic at the time, fascinated him. A self-taught personality, he was constantly searching for physical experiences in the early years of his musical apprenticeship; in the following years, his searching became a commitment. He discovered the zarb and congas, learned to play the tablas, and studied under masters of both traditional and classical music.

Armand Amar’s discovery of dance in 1976 was a decisive moment in his life, brought on by an invitation from trained anthropologist and South African choreographer Peter Gross. In dance, Amar found a direct relationship to music, free improvisation, and the advantages of real, immediate exchanges. Amar soon became involved in two ventures: his involvement in Patrice Chéreau’s acting school and his teaching at the Conservatoire National Supérieur, both focusing on the relationship between music and dance. He has since worked with various choreographers including Francesca Lattuada, Russell Maliphant, Carolyn Carlsson, and Marie-Claude Pietragalla.

Amar’s musical and spiritual influences show in his films scores: film director Costa-Gavras’s 2000 “Eye Witness” and 2009 “Eden is East”; Radu Mihaileanu’s 2009 “The Concert”, winner of the César for Best Soundtrack of the Year; the 2006 “Days of Glory” by Rachid Bouchareb; the 2008 “The Maiden and the Wolves” by Gilles Legrand; and many other notable films. In August of 2014, Armand Amar received the Amanda Award for Best Soundtrack of the Year for the music of Norwegian director Erik Poppe’s movie “A Thousand Times Goodnight”.

In 1994 in partnership with his friends Alain Weber and Peter Gabriel, Amand Amar founded the record label Long Distance for traditional, classic, and world music, producing more than sixty titles. Amar’s own work is released through the labels of Long Distance, Naive, Universal, Sony, and Warner. In June of 2011, at the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music in Morocco, he created his first ‘oratorio mundi” entitled “Leyla and Majnun”, which consisted of forty singers and musicians from around the world.The performance played at Salle Pleyel, in Paris in April of 2014.

Arnald Amar, “Salvacci Denducci Pace”

Armand Amar, “Salvacci Denducci Pace” from the Album “Bab’Aziz”

Armand Amar is a French composer who grew up in Morocco. He plays congas, the tabla and the zarb. His works are focused particularly on Eastern music. He is the author of several ballets and soundtrack films such as “The Trail”, “Days of Glory”, “Earth from Above”, and “Home’. In 1994 he founded the label Long Distance with his partners Alain Weber and Peter Gabriel.

Armand Amar, “Phalene”

Armand Amar, “Phalene” from the album “La Traversée”, 1998

Armand Amar was born in Jerusalem, to an Israeli mother and a Jewish-Moroccan father with a French passport. As a child, he immigrated to Morocco with his father. In 1968, he began playing the congas, practicing the tabla and the zarb in the following years.
In 1976 he met South African choreographer Peter Goss, who introduced him to dance. In the subsequent years, he worked with a number of choreographers in contemporary dance.

Amar’s works are focused particularly on Eastern music. He is the author of several ballets and soundtracks films such as “Get Up and Walk”, “The Trail”, “Indigenous” , “The First Cry”, “Earth from Heaven”, and “Bab Aziz”. He founded the label Long Distance in 1994 with his partners Alain Weber and Peter Gabriel.

Excerpts taken from the film “October12, 2013 Morning by the River” and “November Views at Sunset Hours November 13, 2013” by Tbfxtcxzo

Armand Amar, Jean-Paul Minali Bella, “Poem of the Atoms”

Armand Amar, Jean-Paul Minali Bella, “Poem of the Atoms” Featuring Heroun Teboul, 2005, From the Album “Bab’ Aziz”

Rumi, whose poem is being sung, is a thirteenth century Persian poet and is considered a Sufi Saint by many. While Rumi was an Islamic poet, his poetry has a transcendent appeal among various cultures world wide. His poems contain a deep theme of creative love and the urge to rejoin the spirit to the divine. He believed that this was the goal of every living thing that moved, human, animal or mineral.

O’ day, arise!

Shine your light, the atoms are dancing.

Thanks to Him the universe is dancing.

overcome with ecstasy,

Free from body and mind

I’ll whisper in your ear where their dance is leading them.

All the atoms in the air and in the desert are dancing,

puzzled and drunken to the ray of light,

they seem insane.

All these atoms are not so different than we are,

happy or miserable,

perplexed and bewildered,

we are all beings in the ray of light from the beloved,

nothing can be said.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)