Said Chraibi

Said Chraibi was born in 1951 in Marrakech, Morocco, but was raised in the city of Fez. He began playing the oud, an ancient string instrument popular in Arabic countries, at the age of 13 and went on to study Andalusian music at university. He subsequently toured widely throughout North Africa and the Middle East and in 1986, at the age of thirty-five, he won a prestigious prize at a competition in Iraq. However, it was not until his appearances at the Festival of Sacred Music in Fez that his music reached an international audience. Chraibi has been one of the key players in a revival of the traditions of Arab-Andalusian music in Morocco, and he continues to promote this heritage while also incorporating elements of Turkish, Iraqi and Persian music into his playing.

How we met:

We met with Said at his home in Casablanca and he gave us an outstanding and masterful interpretation of Manu Chao’s song, “Clandestino.”