Ibrahim Maalouf plays the trumpet of the future
By Luca Testoni
If contemporary jazz has its eyes set on the future, it is partly thanks to a trumpet star like the Franco-Lebanese Ibrahim Maalouf, who is back in Italy for a couple of concerts: November 4th at the Teatro degli Arcimboldi in Milan as part of JAZZMI, and two days later, November 6th, at the Teatro Cartiere Carrara in Florence for the H/Earthbeat festival.
“For a long time, I had this dream: to be able to play alongside other trumpet players using the four-valve trumpet invented by my father, Michel, which has the unique ability to play quarter tones,” said the renowned 45-year-old musician, composer, and arranger. “In the end, I succeeded. I designed this revolutionary trumpet through a collaboration with a couple of luthiers and Antoine Courtois from the French group Buffet Crampon, and now I perform with a trumpet section that learned to play this instrument, rebranded as T.o.m.a.“
Joining Ibrahim Maalouf on stage during the Italian tour will be fellow trumpet players Nizar Ali, Yacha Berdah, Yvan Djaouti, and Manel Girard.
Rounding out the ensemble are Mihai Pîrvan (saxophone); François Delporte (electric guitar); Mohamed Derouich (acoustic guitar); and Julien Tekeyan (drums and percussion).
His latest studio album, Trumpets of Michel-Ange Vol. 2, serves as the ideal continuation of the project launched with the first volume and is built precisely around the use of the quarter-tone trumpet to bridge Western and Arabic tonal systems.
“I view it as a great sonic adventure in a universe where folklore and modernity merge into a single vision,” Maalouf concluded. A universe that leaves room for jazz, pop, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, West African, Middle Eastern, and flamenco influences.
Info & Tickets jazzmi.it
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