Bob Azzam - Berimbau

iatedmen | July 20, 2010

BOB AZZAM (given name Waddie George Azzam) was a singer and orchestra leader of Palestinian origin. He was born in Nazareth, Palestine on October 24, 1925, grew up in Egypt (Alexandria,Egypt?), and he died in Monaco on July 24, 2004. He witnessed a great success in France in the beginning of the 1960s. Bob Azzam had a passion for art, a degree in electronic engineering, and has been regarded as the man behind the chamber of echoes "Hors-studio" or "off-studio".
Bob Azzam began his career in Italy in the late 1950s, with his band, singing in Italian and in English. In 1960, he released two songs in France that clearly had the influence of arabic and oriental music, these were: Mustafa « Chérie je t'aime, chérie je t'adore, Como la salsa de pomodoro" and "Fais-moi du couscous, chérie". The same year, he received the Grand Prix du Disque for the song Viens à Juan les Pins. Thus, he records many of the 45 rpm discs.
After this era, his success began to decline. However, Bob Azzam continued his career by touring with his orchestra, and finally opened his own night club in Geneva.
Jonathan Richman, Rachid Taha and most recently La Bande à Basile have all made covers for the songs "Mustafa" and "Fais-moi du couscous, chérie".
Bob Azzam & Miny Gérard, chant.
Giorgio Susa, saxo ténor, flûte.
Jack Sewing, basse.
Hans Felka, piano.
Gio Roselli, batterie.
Helmer Olesen, vibraphone, trompette.