Pierre Bensusan
Pierre Bensusan (born 30 October 1957) is a French-Algerian guitarist. As Sephardic Jews, his family came from Spain, Spanish Morocco and French Algeria. The genre of his acoustic guitar music is often characterized as Celtic, Folk, World music, New Age, or Chamber jazz. He has also published three books of music and tablature. A wide variety of musical styles and influences can be heard in his music.
Born in 1957 in Oran, French Algeria, he moved to Paris with his family when he was four years old. He took up the piano and studied classical music at the age of seven and at the age of eleven, began to teach himself guitar after his father had bought him a steel string acoustic guitar and a class mate taught him a "few chords". He signed the contract for his first album, Près de Paris, when he was just seventeen; it was released one year later, winning him the Grand Prix du Disque at the Montreux Festival. His many influences include Davey Graham, Larry Carlton, Django Reinhardt, Martin Carthy, Nic Jones, Ry Cooder, Big Bill Broonzy, Reverend Gary Davis, Mississippi John Hurt, Doc Watson, Jimi Hendrix, John McLaughlin, Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Ralph Towner, Wes Montgomery, Pat Metheny and Paco de Lucía.