As one of the most prolific indie musicians in the country, Emirati soul singer Hamdan Al Abri is the go-to man when it comes to representation. Having shared the stage with artists such as Kanye West, Ziggy Marley and Joss Stone, the former frontman of Dubai band Abri has just added another legend to his collaborators — American jazz/folk legend Herbie Hancock.
Al Abri will join the pianist and composer on stage at the Abu Dhabi Festival on March 21 at the Emirates Palace. Here, he tells tabloid! what that means to him.
Q: So, you’re performing with a legend. How does that feel?
A: I feel very privileged to be performing with Herbie Hancock and his group of musicians. It feels surreal at the moment, I think it will hit me once I’m up there on stage with him.
Q: What kind of discussions have you had with Herbie? Do you know what you’re going to perform with him? What about rehearsals?
A: Well I haven’t spoken directly to Herbie yet, we have been in contact with his management team. He is coming to the UAE a day before the concert so that we can get to talk and rehearse. We are actually still discussing with his management as to what song/s we will be performing together. I guess people will know on the night of the performance.
Q: If you were to pick a song to perform with Herbie, which one would it be and why?
A: I would love it if we actually wrote a song or two together. I think that would be the ultimate dream. If anyone told me when I was younger that one day I would be performing with Herbie Hancock I would have never believed it, so anything is possible.
Q: When will we see a fully-fledged album?
A: Last year I released an album with Assaad Lakkis’ band called Bull Funk Zoo and it’s been doing really well. I just recently formed a band together with Rony Afif called Abri & Funk Radius and we have been performing here and there, namely Pizza Express in JLT. We are in the process of making a full-length album.
Q: What next for you musically?
A: You know so far I have been so blessed to have done and experienced so much as far as my music career is concerned, I just want to continue pursuing it and progressing : Create new music, perform whenever and wherever I can, and experience unique moments like this Herbie Hancock performance.
