Born in Tunis’ Medina Quarter, Brahem studied at Tunisia’s National Conservatory of Music, before moving to Paris in the early 1980s. After composing for theatre, ballet and Tunisian cinema, and touring the USA as director of Ensemble musical de la ville de Tunis, Brahem signed to ECM. He began a body of recorded work that has established the oud as a key instrument in the genre of ethno-jazz and jazz fusion, incorporating elements of Arabic classical music, folk and jazz. He has regularly collaborated with bassist Dave Holland and pianist Django Bates, as well as clarinetist Barbaros Erköse.
