Roger Fakhr and Charif Megarbane, ambassadors of the Habibi Funk label

Two Lebanese men who seem to be complete opposites will take turns performing on Wednesday, May 7, on stage at La Bellevilloise in Paris. Roger Fakhr, 70, is the author of only one real album, recorded in English and in one day in 1976; Charif Megarbane, thirty years his junior, has released more than a hundred, under various pseudonyms as well as his own name.

The guitar-voice of the former, based in San Francisco, is in the heady hippie vein of David Crosby , Donovan or Sixto Rodriguez . The instrumentals of the latter, based in Lisbon, evoke the playful and seductive splendors of the golden age of Italian soundtracks, from Ennio Morricone to Piero Umiliani. Fakhr once accompanied, on guitar, the tours of Faïrouz, the great diva of his country; Megarbane, for his part, is more willing to lock himself away in the studio, where he superimposes the layers of sound, in the manner of his master, Bill Evans (on record, he plays all the instruments, except the brass).

These differences haven't stopped the two men from forming an almost brotherly friendship over the course of the tour that this spring will be visiting the major European capitals. "Roger and I complement each other perfectly," marvels Charif Megarbane over the phone. On stage, the one-man band is accompanied by the same trio of musicians who support his elder. The pieces by these two children of exile, who had to flee their war-torn country, interact at a distance: " East of Any Place" by Fakhr, responds to " East of What" by Megarbane.

You have 84.19% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.