TRUMPET AT ITS FINEST: IBRAHIM MAALOUF PRESENTS ''ILLUSIONS''!

''Illusions'' is Available Now on iTunes & Amazon

ON THE AIR: IBRAHIM MAALOUF LIVE AT PALÉO FESTIVAL!

Ibrahim Maalouf (Arabic: ابراهيم معلوف‎) is a trumpet player and teacher, composer and arranger. He was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and now lives in Paris, France.

Maalouf was born into a family of intellectuals and artists; he is the son of trumpeter Nassim Maalouf and pianist Nada Maalouf, nephew of the writer Amin Maalouf and grandson of journalist, poet and musicologist Rushdi Maalouf. He is noted for playing Arabic music with quarter tones on the trumpet, which is a rare skill, pioneered by his father and Don Ellis in the 1960s. Other trumpeters using such microtones include Marko Marković, Dejan Avdić, Demiran Ćerimović and Franz Hautzinger.

Maalouf has also earned prizes in the major classical trumpet competitions in the world. In July 2010, he was awarded the Instrumental Revelation of the Year Victory Prize (Frank Ténot prize) at the “Victoires du Jazz” competition in Juan-les-Pins.

His music and his trumpet playing are strongly inspired by his Arabic culture, but the instruments around him (bass, electric guitar, drums, Arabic percussion and vibraphones) and the musicians with whom he performs give a more contemporary rock, electro and Jazz-funk flavor to his music. His concerts are generally built around stimulating music that makes people want to get up and dance. But there is always a short, more contemplative, mystical interlude during his concerts, which he calls "a collective universal prayer". Maalouf gets a lot of his inspiration from his culture of origin. This subject has been explored in the documentary Souffle! (Blow), directed by Christophe Trahand and produced by Cocottes Minutes between 2005 and 2006. Christophe Trahand followed Ibrahim for several months in pursuit of the key to his inspiration and to explore his relationship with his native country and the distance that separates him from it. This documentary was broadcast by TV5 MONDE and is available on DVD in the collection Docnet Films.

Studio Discography: 2007 Diasporas, 2009 Diachronism, 2011 Diagnostic, 2012 Wind

There's an amazing moment happening somewhere around min 20:00. Enjoy and have a good night!

IBRAHIM MAALOUF!

1. Questions and answers 2. Surprises. From 2012 'Wind' album.

ON THE AIR: THE COMPLETE IN A SILENT WAY SESSION!

Mr. Miles Davis needs no introduction at all (I hope!).

The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions is a three-disc box set, featuring recordings from the sessions that would produce his 1969 album In A Silent Way, as well as transitional pieces from the era. 

It is notable since it includes several previously unreleased tracks on CD, namely "Splashdown", "The Ghetto Walk" and "Early Minor", plus a longer and different version of "Shhh/Peaceful" and two "In a Silent Way" alternate takes.

Session One:
1. Mademoiselle Mabry (00:00)
2. Frelon Brun (16:28)
3. Two Faced (22:03)
4. Dual Mr. Anthony Tillmon Williams Process (39:58)
5. Splash: Interlude 1/Interlude 2/Interlude 3 (53:14)
6. Splashdown: Interlude 1/Interlude 2 (1:03:14)

Session Two:
1. Ascent (1:11:10)
2. Directions, I (1:26:00)
3. Directions, II (1:32:41)
4. Shhh/Peaceful (1:37:30)
5. In A Silent Way [Rehearsal] (1:56:35)
6. In A Silent Way (2:01:54)
7. It's About That Time (2:06:01)

Session Three:
1. The Ghetto Walk (2:17:23)
2. Early Minor (2:44:07)

Original 1969 LP Release:
A Side: Shhh/Peaceful/Shhh (2:51:04)
B Side In A Silent Way/It's About That Time/In A Silent Way (3:09:18)

Musicians (click on the names for more info):

• Miles Davis – trumpet
• Wayne Shorter – tenor saxophone (Disc 1: All), soprano saxophone
• John McLaughlin – electric guitar (Disc 2: Tracks 4-7; Disc 3: All)
• Chick Corea – electric piano
• Herbie Hancock – electric piano
• Joe Zawinul – organ (Disc 2; Disc 3)
• Dave Holland – double bass
• Tony Williams – drums
• Jack DeJohnette – drums (Disc 2: Tracks 1-3)
• Joe Chambers – drums (Disc 3: Tracks 1 and 2)

And my personal all-time favourite gig: Miles Davis Group Live at Jazz Fest, New Orleans 1991! 

AUTUMN LEAVES!

Choose your favourite. I'll go for Chet Baker this morning! Just feels better with my kind of latte.

CHET BAKER: LET'S GET LOST!

''When Charlie Parker first heard Chet play he called Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie and said: 'this little white cat out here is gonna give you guys a lot of trouble'''

Travelling with the elusive jazz vocalist and trumpeter Chet Baker, Bruce Weber weaves together the life story of a jazz great. The film uses excerpts from Italian B movies, rare performance footage, and candid interviews with Baker, musicians, friends, battling ex-wives and his children in what turned out to be the last year of his life. Winner of the 1989 Critics Prize at the Venice Film Festival and nominated for an Academy Award, Let's Get Lost has become an important document in the career of the filmmaker on the life of a jazz legend. Since its release in 1989 Let's Get Lost has introduced a whole new generation of jazz enthusiasts to the timeless talent of the late Chet Baker.

Sadly, like most jazz musicians, Chet's legacy is completely lost on today's youth culture...

WATCH THE FULL DOCUMENTARY AFTER THE BREAK!!!