Ali El Farouk Trio

Ali is an active freelance musician, performer, composer and teacher currently based out of Montreal. He is an accomplished guitarist whose passion in music and his interest in various styles led him to become a versatile musician. Music has always been a part of his life from an early age. Starting with classical piano at the age of ten he switched to guitar at fifteen, which became his primary instrument afterwards. By the end of 2010 he began playing the oud.

He spent the beginning of his musical career performing his early influences of rock, blues, funk and folk music with different bands in his hometown. After completing his Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture Ali changed career and decided to pursue music professionally, completing a Bachelor’s Degree with distinction in Jazz Studies from Concordia University. His experience in the Jazz Studies Program included being a member of the Concordia Big Band and the Concordia Jazz Guitar Ensemble. Ali studied with some of the most respected players and educators in Montreal such as Charles Ellison, Gary Schwartz, Dave Turner, Michael Berard, Kenny Bibace and Carlos Jimenez. He also had great opportunities to attend masterclasses by some of his favorite contemporary jazz guitar players such as Adam Rogers, Kurt Rosenwinkel and Jonathan Kreisberg.

Ali’s performances include the Festival Nuits D’Afrique and Festival Du Monde Arab in Montreal in 2011, as well as the Jazz Mania Festival at the Saladin Citadel of Cairo in 2010, and the Cairo Jazz Festival in 2013.

Ali was sought out for his versatility and accomplished reading skills on the guitar by film music composer Tamer Karawan to record all guitar parts for the soundtrack of “The Ring Road”, a feature film participating in the Cairo Film Festival 2010, where the guitar is the primary instrument in the film’s soundtrack. Ali was also selected as the featured artist in the music section of the December 2010 issue of Community Times Magazine, Egypt's foremost community information magazine.

With a growing interest in world music, Ali began studying the Oud in 2010 with respected Egyptian Oud/Kanoun/Bouzouki player Alaa Saber, a core soloist in the group of award winning Egyptian composer Omar Khairat. In 2011, Ali composed and performed the music for a short film titled “Their Feast” presented by the London Film School, in a music setting where East meets West Ali blended the Oud with the Guitar.

In 2012 he had the great musical experience of traveling the world playing music on cruise ships, performing seven nights a week for months. Afterwards he returned to the music scene in Montreal to focus on performing and teaching. He formed an intimate Oud & Guitar Duo project called Mazajam with good friend and wonderful guitarist Lucas Haneman, in a musical setting where east meets west, the duo performed weekly at Kazamaza, a lovely Syrian restaurant and a hub for middle eastern artists and enthusiasts.

In March of 2013 Ali fulfilled a longtime dream of his by bringing a band from Montreal to Egypt to perform at the Cairo Jazz Fest, paying tribute to the music of Hamza El Din and the Nubia. The trio included Thomas Durant on drums and Mike De Masi on upright bass, also inviting the lovely Nubian artist and Hamza El Din's nephew and disciple, Karam Mourad.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alielfaroukmusic