This flamenco guitar recital incorporates various techniques of the Egyptian oud, mixing Arabic modes with flamenco “palos.” With two synthesizers and other electronic devices, the guitarist creates a live simulation of customized sounds, with instruments from classical orchestras, accompanying the guitar harmonically during different parts of the performance.
 
Ali Khattab is a young Egyptian guitarist who found his personal style at a very young age. When he was born in Cairo, he already had “maqamat” (the melodic modes of Arab music) running through his veins. As he learned to play the guitar, he fell in love with flamenco and moved to Jerez de la Frontera when he was in his twenties, to delve into the culture of flamenco and its “palos,” the different styles used in flamenco. Since then, Ali has forged his own style by mixing Arab music and flamenco, and unlike other projects which go down the path of “fusion,” Ali has discovered that the two styles can simply coexist, with no need for adaptation.
 
Ali Khattab. Composer and guitarist
Born in Cairo in 1977, Ali Khattab began to learn to play the guitar through self-teaching at the age of eleven. However, his nearly obsessive passion for the instrument began with the discovery of flamenco, two years later.
 
At the age of 20, he set off on a trip which took him to Jerez de la Frontera, where he met with influential guitar players, singers, dancers and “palmeros,” who introduced him to the true world of flamenco. Inspired by this music from Andalusia, he began his earliest explorations as a composer to outline his own path, in which Eastern music meets and merges with flamenco.
 
Since then, surrounding himself with great Egyptian and Spanish musicians, he has presented his project in many countries throughout the Middle East and Europe alongside different groups, from a duo to a sextet, managing to captivate the audience at each performance. His first two albums, “Al Zarqa” (Nuevos Medios, 2010) and “Sin País” (Nesma Music 2014) have won awards and received critical acclaim in Spain, Europe and the United States. In March 2024, Ali Khattab published his first book on all studies related with this technique and the integration of Arabic music in flamenco, studies which will get officially included within the University of Music Education in Cairo, Egypt.

 Repertoire  “Cuerdas entre tierras”
1- Tangos del Faraón
2- Alcazaba
3- Sin país
4- Solea cairota
5- A… dios
6- La contra
7- Bulemora
8- Egipto

For further details

During this master class,students will be introduced to the techniques and mechanics of playing Middle Eastern classical guitar: the main technique of the oud pick using the thumbnail and the techniques of the right hand on the fingerboard to produce the oriental sound with the guitar. Similarly, they will learn about Arab scales and how they are integrated in with the “palos” of flamenco,as well as the rhythms when compared with flamenco’s beat.

Ali Khattab, born in Cairo in 1977, began playing the guitar at the age of 11. Obsessed with the instrument, he discovered flamenco two years later. At the age of 20, he took a trip to Andalusia, where he met influential guitarists, singers, dancers and “palmeros” who introduced him to the real world of classical guitar and flamenco. Inspired by Andalusian music, he began his journey as a composer, tracing his own path in which Middle Eastern music converged with traditional Andalusian music.

His approach to the instrument is, logically, that of flamenco, but by inventing a new guitar technique that he calls “the seventh technique,” he has managed to produce the sound of the oud on the guitar by incorporating the techniques of the flamenco guitar using the “ferdaj” technique from the oud. The outcome is a sound never heard before. In this way, Ali is able to bring the two languages together and form a dialogue between them with the amazing nature between East and West, in the space that stretches from the Nile to the Guadalquivir, recreating an imaginary region without borders where the guitar coexists with Arab musical scales.

His first two albums, “Al Zarqa” (2010) and “Sin País” (2014), have won awards and critical acclaim in Spain, Europe and the United States. In March 2024, Ali Khattab published his first book on all studies related with this technique and the integration of Arabic music in flamenco, studies which will get officially included within the University of Music Education in Cairo, Egypt.

Further details about the training programs at the festival 

Further information about the workshop: infocordoba@casaarabe.es

Tarwa N-Tiniri, which means “the children of the desert” in the Amazigh language, comes from the southern city of Ouarzazate, Morocco. Inspired by famous desert blues bands like Tinariwen, Tamikrest and Bombino, the goal of these young musicians is to become the new international generation of desert blues bands.

They sing their songs in the Amazigh language, accompanied by their own vocals, clapping, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, percussion, gourd and bass. In them, they express the social conditions of the nomadic peoples from their region and refresh the genre with verve and creativity. Tarwa N-Tiniri’s music is rooted in traditional Amazigh sounds and blends, intertwining sounds such as jazz, reggae above all with an unmistakable desert blues sound. Most of their songs are written and composed by the band members, while others are taken from Amazigh poets. Their goal is to increase awareness about the nomadic cultures of the desert by using music as a universal language.

This young, promising groups of musicians from the nomadic cultures of the desert is presenting their new work “Akal,” a musical exploration which expresses a deep connection to a free land, celebrating Morocco’s Amazigh cultural heritage while promoting cultural exchange through diverse rhythms.

Musicians:
HAMID AIT AHMED  Lead vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar
EL MOKHTAR AIT NACER  Vocals, guitar
YOUSSEF AIT NACER  Drums, gourd
MUSTAPHA AIT BA  Vocals, clapping
ISMAIL AIT NACER  Vocals, bass

INFORMATION ON DISABLED ACCESS
The Gran Teatro and Góngora Theater are adapted for people with reduced mobility. To purchase this type of seats, you may do so directly at our physical box office or by sending an email to: taquilla.imae@ayuncordoba.es