The Banana Cognacs

The Banana Cognacs was first formed by Johnny Seikaly, Ghassan Khayyat and Raja Ghraizi during the latter half of 2009.

After a few jam sessions, Khayyat’s funk/ folk style combined with Ghraizi’s blues and jazz lead solos and Seikaly’s long-time experience as a funk bassist resulted in a unique sound that was performance worthy.

However, the Banana Cognacs were mainly lacking in vocals. Seikaly and Khayyat had been jamming albeit aimlessly since years before, with the view of forming a band eventually.
Khayyat had been in contact with Hussein Sharafeddine aka Double A The Preacherman through his active involvement in hiphop scene as a member of Fareeq el Atrash.

After recording a sketch freestyle demo (The Double A Conspiracy) with The Preacherman, he was invited in as lead vocalist, after which point Moustafa Khaled joined on drums.

Angie Nassar joined the band on vocals in the summer of 2012. At the same time, Raja Gharazi left to study in Germany. Ramzi Bashour has since taken over on lead guitar.

The Banana Cognacs style is quite diverse in terms of contrasting music backgrounds, but the main elements are funk and blues with some emceeing that takes it to a hip hop pitch.

The list of venues under the Banana Cognacs’ belt range from Dany’s pub in Hamra street to EM Chill and the Junkyard Pop-Up Restaurant, both in Mar Mikhael, and the Beirut Music and Art Festival.

With a 14-song repertoire of originals, the Banana Cognacs are actively seeking to expand both in experience and reach. They released their debut EP in the summer of 2012. Hear tracks from the EP on their Soundcloud page.