Hossam Ramzy

Hossam Ramzy, 2005

Hossam Ramzy ( Arabic حسام رمزي, DMG Ḥusām Ramzī ; * December 15, 1953 in Cairo ; † September 10, 2019 ) was an Egyptian percussionist and music producer .

Live and act

Ramzy received his first darabouka at the age of three . He studied with leading music teachers in his hometown. A move to Saudi Arabia led him as a teenager to Bedouin tribes who gave him insight into the cultural origins of Arabic music and which became the inspiration for many of his later rhythmic orientations.

In 1975 he moved to England to study jazz drumming; there he worked with jazz musicians such as Andy Sheppard and Geoff Williams . The first albums under his own name were released through which Peter Gabriel became aware of him, who invited him to play in Passion , his soundtrack for The Last Temptation of Christ . As a percussionist, he then worked with musicians like Barbara Thompson , Joan Armatrading , Mary Wilson , Marc Almond , Electric Light Orchestra , Debbie Harry and Killing Joke and recorded his album Introduction to Egyptian Dance Rhythms . In 1994 Robert Plant and Jimmy Page invited Ramzy to work on their reunion album No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded . With the Pharaoh's Egyptian Ensemble , which he directed , he also accompanied Page & Plant's subsequent world tour in 1995/96 and then recorded various albums under his own name. In 2000 Ramzy released the albums Sabla Tolo: Journeys into Pure Egyptian Percussion and El Amar . The album Gypsies of the Nile: Rehal followed in early 2001.

Ramzy achieved top positions in the dance charts worldwide in 2001 with his title Edony . With his string and percussion arrangements he produced songs for artists such as Yeşim Salkım , Cheb Khaled , Tarkan , Rachid Taha , Faudel and the Gipsy Kings . There was also artistic collaboration with Hector Zazou, Anne Dudley , Boy George , Luciano Pavarotti , Chick Corea and Jay-Z .

Web links

• Web presence
• Hossam Ramzy at Discogs (English)
• Hossam Ramzy at Allmusic (English)