The first entry you are reading is shaped by my weekend in Ankara, where I live. However, I will not be talking about myself. I have worked with Arabic musicians, and almost all of them have a common point to make when they explain Arabic music to people who have Western music background only.You know how it is told that major and minor scales represent "happy" and "sad" moods; because it has to do with temperament. Arabic music gives you a greater degree of freedom to mix the moods utilizing "maqam" which is the scale equivalent of Western music.
Nassim Maaolouf, a Lebanese trumpet player left Beirut due to civil war and studied classical trumpet with Maurice André. He wanted to employ the Arabic ways of playing into trumpet -naturally because he is Lebanese and the soil he comes from has its own rich music culture that is really difficult to abandon. So he worked with Michel Wikrikaz in Paris to build a trumpet that is capable of producing micro-tones naturally by adding a fourth valve <http://www.microtonaltrumpet.
As some might know, trumpet produces different notes with three valves by simply changing the path length of the tubing, hence the resonance characteristics change. By manipulating lip pressure, it is possible to obtain micro-tones, but they are not as natural as well controlled.
That's half of the story though. What I really want to talk about is how Nassim's son Ibrahim Maalouf met with trumpet he launched a new sound. Ibrahim Maalouf wanted to play the trumpet at 7, and his father provided him with the essentials. When the time came, he went on tours with his father and got acquainted with professional musicians in the classical music realm. He met with Maurice André, whom encouraged him to pursue music professionally.
Well, we all know how easier it gets to get your name out there if you are in the performing arts business and your father, uncle, cousin etc. happens to be in the business as well. The guidance is essential to get the doors open. However, then it's all on you. Sure it was easy for him to work with well known people but Ibrahim also won many competitions in classical trumpet showing that he has the discipline. After some time of playing barque, romantic, and contemporary classical music, he decides that this is not something he wants to for the rest of his life -meaning interpreting other people's work. So he composes. He meets with jazz and his compositions become a blend of traditional arabic music, jazz, and classical technique. That is where magic happens, in my humble opinion. He played contemporary jazz in Paris jazz clubs then never stopped working with traditional Arabic music legends like Marcel Khalife.
He worked with Lhasa de Sela and he played in "Anywhere on This Road". She said "That song is about not going back the way I came, how you have to go forward, and the music has a kind of drone and the trumpet feels as if life is going forward... "
His compositions got a lot of attention after releasing his first album Diasporas at 2007. However, this particular album comprises of traditional vein and his experiments separated with a thick line in between. His third album Diagnostic (2011) is however, a significantly eargasmic blend of funk-jazz and traditional arabic with electronic music sprinkled on top served as arrangements of instruments. You can feel that every song has a personal touch and he does say they are inspired by family members in an interview:
" ‘Lily is 2′ is about my daughter Lily’s arrival and her growing up. I felt that life goes so fast. I honoured the vibrant mix of the Franco-Arab-Chilean heritage of my sister with “Maeva in the Wonderland,” and my mother’s healing kindness and fortitude with “Douce,” that features French-Malian MC Oxmo Puccino. The Balkan-inflected bluesy “Never Serious,” is a tune for my sister Layla. All the songs are dedicated to members of my family and my heritage.[1] "
"Maeva in the Wonderland" is also one of my personal favorite due to its clever arrangement of different tonalities and the Arabic infrastructure.
I guess every artist cultivates something regarding the city they were born, or they feel associated with. Therefore, "Beirut" on this album is the bonus track and it is a great mixture of Arabic "taqsim" culture with rock sound (I want to say almost progressive rock).
His last album "Au pays d'Alice", Maalouf explores a different direction in his musical pool of influence. His work with Oxmo Puccino in this album is layered with another dimension with the addition of a children choir. I think the choir brings a very rejuvenating, energetic sound (also very mystic) to the pieces as the story (Alice in Wonderland) is narrated by Oxmo.
In summary, Maalouf's intention to discover free discourse in music through jazz results in different dialogues. When his "The Wind" album is compared to "Illusions" and all these compared to "Au Pays d'Alice" one can see the various directions he is exploring. However, there is one fundamental idea he follows everywhere consistently, which is the fusion of lateral richness (as opposed to vertical harmony predominant in western music). His music truly comes from his head going to different places.
