Arab World Institute celebrates Hedi Jouini
TUNISIAONLINENEWS- On Friday December 18, 2009 the Arab World Institute (IMA) in Paris, will pay tribute to the great Tunisian singer, Hedi Jouini, on the occasion of the singer’s centennial anniversary.
Abir Nasraoui, a young, talented Tunisian singer from Kasserine, will perform Hedi Jouini’s timeless masterpieces on the scene of IMA’ s prestigious Auditorium. The singer considers that it is “her duty to pay tribute to the great Tunisian artist who has given so much to Tunisian music”.
The project which she has been honing since 2007, almost never saw the day following the opposition from one of Hedi Jouini’s sons. Luckily, everything is in order now and she has also plans afoot to launch a new album, early January 2010.
Hedi Jouini (1909-1990), whose centenary is being celebrated through a series of events held concurrently in Tunisia and in France, was one of the first Tunisian singers to blend Tunisian folklore with Spanish music with great success, earning him many invitations to perform on many Arab and Western stages. His unequalled compositions are still being revisited today by singers from all over the Arab world.
Versions of his songs regularly appear in French, Greek, Turkish, Persian, Spanish and Hebrew and his masterpiece “Taht El Yasmina Fi Lil” (Under the jasmine tree at nightime) is even taught in French primary schools.
