Biography
Drummer, composer and rare improviser, Ahmad Compaoré is an unmissable musician. With feet, fists and hands, he strikes, whips and strokes the brass of the cymbals, the skin of his drums where power and freedom make up the essentials of his playing. Of Egyptian and Burkinabé origins, he has developed a career just like his personal history, based upon cultural encounters.
In the early 1990s, he met Fred Frith in Marseilles for the creation of the rock opera "Helter Skelter" and got to know various musicians he has been collaborating with since: Marc Ribot, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Ikue Mori, Barre Phillips, the late Tom Cora and Michel Petrucciani, and many others. After a two-year drum course at the Centre Musical & Créatif de Nancy (M.A.I.) from which he graduated in 1995, he took part in the residencies of percussionist Makoto Yabuki and balafonist Mahama Konaté in Marseilles. With a constant craving for exploration and discovery, he later joined a groove band from Senegal (1996) and the band of Reunion Island singer and composer Ti Fock (1998). Founding member of the legendary trio Oriental Fusion (Hakim Hamadouche and Ed Hosdikian), he appears on over 30 albums and has performed all around the world: Germany, Spain, Japan, United States, Morocco, Egypt, India, Madagascar. But this wealth of encounters is not limited to mere musical creation: during the 2000s, he started to work and compose for theatre, cinema and dance, mainly with Egyptian choreographer Karima Mansour. Twice recipient of the Culturesfrance "Hors les Murs" award, he lived in India in 2005 to be initiated into the art of tabla by master Sree Debasish Dass, then in Japan in 2008 to carry out a creation project with various artists (computer-aided music). Free from boundaries, he equally enjoys the most extreme experiences in alternative and improvised music, jazz and fusion.Involved in many projects, he was the regular drummer of bluesman Lucky Peterson during his European tour in 2018.
Creator of the Musique Rebelle label, Ahmad Compaoré teaches drums and contemporary percussion at the Friche la Belle de Mai, his place of residence in Marseilles. While giving concerts and master classes, he continues his journey on the road of rhythms, those of a musician without borders...
