Dhafer Youssef

Dhafer Youssef

Dhafer Youssef is a Tunisian singer, composer and oud player. He is born in 1967 in Monastir, Tunisia. His work spans jazz and world music, and his sound also draws on Sufi tradition, Arabic lyricism, mystical elements and improvisation. He begins singing at the age of five and later develops a career that takes him to audiences in Tunisia, Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland and other countries.

Music and style

Youssef plays the oud, the Arabic lute, and uses it alongside vocals as the core of his music. His recordings combine Sufi and world influences with jazz, and his later work also incorporates electronic elements and funk rhythms. His style fits across avant-garde jazz, free improvisation, jazz, nu jazz, post-bop and spiritual jazz.

Recordings and collaborations

He appears with his own ensembles and records two albums with them, one in 1993 and another three years later. His third album, Malak, comes out on Enja Records in 1999 and includes the tracks “A Kind of Love,” “Tarannoum” and “Eklil”. On that album, he contributes vocals and oud and is joined by violinist Zoltan Lantos, bassist Achim Tang, tabla and dolak player Jatinder Thakur, tambourine player Carlo Rizzo, bassist Renaud Garcia-Fons and drummer Patrice Héral.

In 2002, he releases Electric Sufi on Enja, working with the rhythm section of Will Calhoun and Doug Wimbush, both formerly of Sugar Hill Gang and Tackhead. He later follows it with Digital Prophecy, and then Abu Nwas Rhapsody in 2010, an album built around a consistent line-up and close ensemble interplay. He develops long-running musical partnerships with the Sardinian trumpeter Paolo Fresu and the Norwegian guitarist Eivind Aarset.

Other collaborators

Youssef also performs with a wide range of musicians including Uri Caine, Jon Hassell, Markus Stockhausen, Nguyên Lê and the Cuban pianist Omar Sosa. He is associated with the Uri Caine Ensemble.