Loading details…
Artist
Cheikh Sidi Bémol
12+ albums
algeriarockfranceguitarafrica
about
Cheikh Sidi Bemol is uncategorizable. Someone qualified as "Gourbi Rock" the work rendered by this group, lead by Hocine Boukella (guitar & vocals). Cheikh Sidi Bemol's music, while deeply rooted into Algerian traditional ground, reveals a surprising freshness due to openings on Blues, Rock, Salsa or Celtic music and with exceptional musicians: Hichem Takaoute (bass), Khliff Miziallaoua (guitar) and Hervé Le Bouché (drums). Lively, moving, full of a friendly and corrosive humour, Cheikh Sidi Bemol's songs draw a new territory in the Algerian musical landscape. Hocine Boukella, alias Cheikh Sidi Bemol, alias Elho, trained as a biologist and is a self-taught musician and cartoonist. Right from the '80s while a student in Algiers, he sketched with a corrosive humour Algerian society. He brought his first comic book out, called "Le Crieur" (The Crier) upon the universe of musicians in Algiers. This comic book was banned for "obscenity" and the plates were seized. In 1985, he arrived in Paris to attend a population genetics study, but he soon gave up his scientific career to dedicate himself to both of his passions: drawing and music. He founded the group Sidi Bemol, which appears mostly in the area around Paris, published three drawing books, contributed to "Salama" and "Pour!" reviews, exhibited in several festivals (Angouleme, Saint-Just-Le Martel,..), and collaborated as graphic designer, lyric writer, or musician on various albums (Youcef, Gnawa Diffusion, Orchestre Nat
