Lili Boniche

Lili Boniche
Background information
Born
Eliaou Élie Boniche

(1922-04-29)April 29, 1922
DiedMarch 6, 2008(2008-03-06) (aged 85)
Paris, France
GenresAndalusian-Arab, Chaabi, Franco-Arab
OccupationsSinger, musician, film composer
InstrumentsMandola, guitar
Years active1940s–1950s, 1990–2008
LabelsRoir Records, APC, East West, Créon Mélodie

Lili Boniche (born Élie Boniche; April 29, 1922[1] – March 6, 2008) was an Algerian singer of Andalusian-Arab music. Boniche was the heir to an erudite, centuries-long tradition of Algerian song and a pillar of Franco-Arab music.

Born into a Sephardic Jewish family in the Casbah of Algiers, Boniche was a child prodigy who taught himself to play his father's mandola at the age of seven. Later as an in-demand singer throughout France in the 1940s and during wartime. Boniche incorporated the tango, paso doble and mambo into his repertoire, especially while entertaining the troops. He is known for having sung with Arabic lyrics a number of great Cuban popular songs as part of his regular repertoire. He retired in the 1950s, only to launch a second career in 1990, releasing the album Boniche Dub in 1998, produced by Bill Laswell and fashion doyen Jean Touitou. The album earned him new fans across Europe. This retrospective combining his greatest hits and previously unreleased works not only fills a gap with regard to available recordings, but it also pays tribute to an important pioneer of cultural fusion.

In addition to writing music for commercial release, he also was a film composer. He died in Paris.

Discography

  • Alger, Alger, Roir Records/E1, February 16, 1999
  • Œuvres récentes , APC Play it Again Sam, 2003
  • Il n'y a qu'un seul Dieu (live à l'Olympia), East West Warner Music France, 1999
  • Trésors de la chanson judéo-arabe, Créon Mélodie

References

  1. ↑ "BONICHE Eliaou". Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  • Wikimedia Commons logo Media related to Lili Boniche at Wikimedia Commons
  • Biography at Oriente.de
  • Biography @ Uncommon Sound
  • Discography @ Afrik.com (in French)
  • Lili Boniche at IMDb