Hassan Erraji

Hassan Erraji (حسن الراجي) is a blind Moroccan Master Musician - a singer songwriter, multi instrumentalist, entertainer, arranger and composer with a highly respected international reputation. Born in the village of Tazart, south of Marrakech, Hassan was introduced to the traditional music of the Atlas mountains from an early age by experiencing the many forms of the Berber music repertoire which is practised and taught by ear and passed on from generation to generation, from master to disciple. While a young boy he made his first instrument from a tin can and a piece of wood with bicycle brake cables for strings. As a teenager he performed with local folk bands and classical musicians then later took up the Oud (a fretless Arab lute) and started studying Arab music theory at The Conservatoire Municipal de Casablanca. On graduating from the Conservatoire, Hassan moved to Brussels to study violin and piano at L`Academie de Music where he left with a distinction to begin his performing career. As a solo performer and with his previous band Arabesque, Hassan has released six critically acclaimed albums worldwide including the titles "Nikriz" and "La Dunia" as well as playing and collaborating on a huge number of musical projects with other major artists from all genres of the musical spectrum. In this time he has performed live on stage at the worlds most prestigious music venues and festivals including The Royal Festival Hall, WOMAD and Glastonbury (UK), Teatro di Polverigi (Italy), In Roads Africa (USA), Frankfurt Guitar Festival (Germany), Tales of Graz (Austria) and Festival des Cerises (Belgium) to name but a few. Hassan has written and produced music for film, radio, video, theatre and television as well as running highly sought after master classes at many of the top musical institutes around the world although for the past eight years Hassan has spent time out of the live international performing spotlight to concentrate on teaching and writing. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.