الهام المدفعي

Ilham Al Madfai Arabic إلهام المدفعي‎ Born C. 1942 Is An Iraqi Guitarist Singer And Composer. Al-Madfai's Synthesis Of Western Guitar Stylings With Traditional Iraqi Music Has Made Him A Popular Performer In His Native Country And Throughout The Middle East. Beginning In 1999 Al-Madfai Released A String Of Albums On EMI's Label Including His Platinum Eponymous Debut Ilham Al-Madfai 1999 Live At The Hard Rock Cafe 2001 Baghdad 2003 And The Voice Of Iraq The Best Of Ilham Al-Madfai 2005 . In 2009 Al-Madfai Released Dishdasha. His Western-Inspired Compositions Led To A Nickname "The Baghdad Beatle". Al-Madfai Began Studying Guitar At Age Twelve. He Formed The Twisters In 1961 Iraq's First Rock And Roll Band. Following A Three-Year Sojourn In Kuwait With The Group Al-Madfai Moved To England To Complete An Engineering Degree. While In London He Became A Regular At The Baghdad Cafe Where He Met Fellow Musicians Paul McCartney Donovan And Georgie Fame. Returning To Baghdad In 1967 He Began To Mix Western And Eastern Instrumentation And Rhythms. Al-Madfai Developed A Major Following In Iraq In The 1970s But Saddam Hussein's Rise To Power In 1979 Compelled The Artist To Leave And Take Construction Jobs Around The Gulf For Much Of The Following Decade. Al-Madfai Returned To Iraq Shortly Before The First Gulf War And Was Subsequently Banned From Leaving The Country. He Emigrated To Jordan In 1994 Where He Presently Resides. Al-Madfai Was Granted Jordanian Citizenship From King Hussein For Exceptional Talents And Achievement. On 9 August 2010 He Was The Featured Artist In A Late-Night Prom At The Royal Albert Hall In London. In 2017 A Polish Documentary Movie Arabic Secret Was Released In Which His Polish Son Visited Him For The Very First Time In Jordan. Ilham Al-Madfai Was Not Aware Of The Existence Of His Polish Son. read less