Biography
Attab Haddad was born in the UK to Iraqi parents. After graduating with a degree in Business Management, Attab embarked on a career in business and finance, starting in property investment before moving to the City to work in private banking. In his mid twenties, Attab quit the City to re-train as a sound engineer and it was during this period that he started playing the oud and discovered a surprising aptitude and affinity for the instrument. Upon graduating with a diploma in Sound Engineering, Attab decided to study the oud in depth and started studying with Iraqi oud player Ahmed Mukhtar in London before moving to Egypt for a period to study with Egyptian Nihad El-Sayed and the Iraqi virtuoso Nasseer Shamma at the Arab Oud House. Upon his return, he joined a Master’s program at SOAS, University of London, in Music Performance, graduating in 2006 with a Distinction.
He has collaborated with many artists in many genres (Juan Martin, Cerys Matthews, Max Baillie, John Metcalfe, Eugene Skeef, Clara Sanabras, Ramon Ruiz, to name a few) as co-composer, producer, musician and session player and featured as a guest on various albums. He is a key member of the contemporary and Classical crossover group The Sabina Rakcheyeva Ensemble, as well as being a founding member of the Flamenco fusion band Alcazaba.
Haddad’s work has featured on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 6, BBC Radio Scotland, SOAS Radio and Resonance FM as well as on various Middle Eastern and Turkish TV Channels and he has performed in the UK, Europe, USA, Middle East and India to much acclaim. In April 2010 he was the subject of an hour long documentary on Arabic TV Channel AL-Fayhaa that highlighted his innovative new approach to the oud.
In 2008 he founded the Attab Haddad Quintet which plays his own compositions drawing on Middle Eastern music, Flamenco, Jazz and contemporary composed music creating a sound that is unique to the band. The Quintet has been very well received and has appeared live on BBC Radio as well as playing at some of London’s finest venues including Cadogan Hall and The Forge where they closed the London Jazz Festival in 2011. They released their first CD ‘Days Distinctive’ in January 2012 on Weave Records.
Aside of his performances, Haddad has worked within the spheres of dance, television and film, writing the scores for The Jean Abreau Dance Co’s show Equus and co-writing Dialogo with violinist Max Baillie. Haddad's film and TV credits include session work on Paul Gladstone-Reid's music for Isaac Julien's Phantom Creole, numerous collaborations with TV composer David Lowe, and session work on James Newton Howard's music for Ed Zwick's film, Blood Diamond, starring Leonardo Di Caprio and Jennifer Connelly, as well as various documentaries and TV programs. He has also written library music for Universal Publishing and continues to work as a composer for corporate ad campaigns and short films.