A Brief Guide To Lebanese Jazz

Lebanon is known for many things—its lush valleys, a fertile coastal plain and a 170 km-long mountain range carpeted with cedar, oak and pine. Beirut, Tripoli, Sidon, Tyre, Byblos and Baalbek—its cities' names resonate with history's vibrations. These are cities that have borne more history than most.

It is a country renowned for its love of art and culture. Music is everywhere. Singer Fairouz, one of the most famous and instantly recognizable of Arabic voices since the early '50s, is still queen. Pop and rock are highly popular though jazz is played in many locales throughout Beirut, often against the background of eating, drinking and talking.

Background noise at a gig is perhaps the least of Lebanese jazz musicians' worries. The county's internal political strife and its vicious socio-economic consequences are an ever-present debilitating reality, while decades-long regional conflict has driven Palestinian, Iraqi and Syrian refugees in their droves into Lebanon.

Conflict with Israel—history repeating itself time and time again—has inflicted severe suffering and hardship on the population. Corruption, inequality, sectarianism, economic crisis and fighting plague a country where the majority of ordinary, hard-working Lebanese just want to live a dignified life. As the poet Khalil Gibran put it: "You have your Lebanon, and I have my Lebanon."

Lebanese jazz musicians may be small in number but there are some exceptional talents and singular voices that refuse to be silenced, even in the most difficult of times. That said, when Lebanon is embroiled in war all concerts grind to a halt and the only teaching—and nearly all jazz musicians teach in some capacity—is done online. A precarious occupation at the best of times becomes nigh impossible. Some musicians are displaced. Some choose exile.

This is not meant to be an exhaustive guide to Lebanese jazz, but rather a guide to some of the most interesting active jazz musicians. A few of the names are internationally known. Other names may be unfamiliar but are deserving of wider exposure.

Rabi Abou-Khalil

Oud player/composer Rabih Abou-Khalil has fused the threads of Arabic music and jazz since making his recording debut in 1981. Growing up in Beirut Abou-Khalil fell under the spell of Frank Zappa and Thelonious Monk. He left Lebanon for Germany in 1978 while his country's civil war was raging. "I couldn't muster enough anger or hatred against any other group to stay there and participate in the war" he told a conference audience in Budapest in 2017.

Abou-Khalil has released two dozen albums featuring the likes of Sonny Fortune, Glen Moore, Kenny Wheeler, Charlie Mariano, Steve Swallow and Joachim Kuhn. There is much more to Abou-Khalil's music than Arabic classical and jazz—a random dip into his discography would reveal his fascination with rhythms and melodies from around the world—but those two elements are at the core of his musical identity. "The Lewinsky March" from The Cactus of Knowledge (Enja, 2001) is a rhythmically lively romp featuring feisty horns, with a heady exchange between Dave Bargeron on euphonium and Michel Godard on tuba.

Ibrahim Maalouf

Trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf is another Lebanese exiled by the country's 15-year civil war, though Maalouf was a child when his parents migrated to France. Like Rabih Abou-Khalil, Maalouf's music draws on Arabic maqams, European classical and jazz while remaining open to a wide range of influences. "I consider myself as being a researcher," Maalouf told Leo Sidran on The Third Story podcast. "Each one of my albums is like an experimentation and I always hope that it means something ..."

Maalouf's father invented a four-valve micro-tonal trumpet that enabled Ibrahim to play Arabic maqams. "The invention of my father was way more than an extra valve on the trumpet playing quarter tones," Maalouf told Sidran. "It was more like a bridge between the cultures that I loved."

Maalouf's versatility has seen him collaborate with musicians as varied as Archie Shepp, Sting, Salif Keita, Wynton Marsalis, Melody Gardot and Juliette Greco, among others. The Latin-influenced "Sensuality" from Wind (Mi'ster Productions, 2013) captures Maalouf in expansive, lyrical form. Joining the trumpeter are Larry Grenadier on bass, Clarence Penn on drums, Frank Woeste on piano and Mark Turner on saxophone.

Arthur Satyan

One musician who went the other way and emigrated to Beirut is Armenian pianist Arthur Satyan, who formed his first jazz quartet in 1988. Born into a family of famous composers and musicians, Satyan arrived in Beirut in 1996, soon becoming Dean of the classical music programme at the Lebanese National Conservatory of Music. In 2004 he started a jazz class which blossomed into a fully-fledged jazz department, a first in the Middle East. It offers a three- year program, with the best students graduating to a fourth year.

Satyan has taught many of young generation of Lebanese jazz musicians now making their way in the world. "Every year I help one or two guys into the jazz scene, and this is great," Satyan told AAJ in 2019. "I'm fighting to promote this music as much as I can." During his career Satyan has played with Larry Coryell, Sonny Fortune, Ed Cherry Charles Davis and Matana Roberts.

Though often leading acoustic ensembles, Satyan got behind the electric keyboards for his album ARTology (Self Produced, 2013), which brought together Armenian, Syrian and Lebanese musicians. "Waynish" is Satyan's homage to life-long inspiration Wayne Shorter. Armen Hyusnunts on soprano saxophone, Omar Harb on electric bass and long-standing collaborator Fouad Afra on drums cook up a bright jazz-fusion that evokes Shorter's own electric experiments.

Raffi Mandalian

One of Satyan's former students is guitarist and composer Raffi Mandalian, a regular figure on the Beirut jazz scene since 2005. Mandalian studied classical guitar at the Lebanese National Conservatory but was seduced by jazz as well as Latin music through the records of Joao Gilberto and Stan Getz. Though Mandalian's sound on electric guitar is contemporary, the jazz guitarist he admires most is Wes Montgomery. "Until today he still sounds modern to my ears almost in every element one could discuss about jazz guitar."

Mandalian turns his guitar to rock, funk, pop and Latin as well, a versatility that has made him an in-demand guitarist with a broad range of artists. Collaborations include Arthur Satyan, Ziad Rahbani, Donna Khalifé, Thomas Hornig, Victor Bailey, and the legendary Lebanese singer Fairouz. For Mandalian jazz is about deep communication, "both on social and intellectual levels. You learn to respect and to give space to each musician you are playing with."

Mandalian has taught classical guitar, jazz guitar and jazz appreciation at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik and at the Lebanese American University, experiences that have enriched his soul, if not his pocket.

As a leader, Mandalian heads straight-ahead trios and quartets but he also channels his Armenian roots with beguiling jazz arrangements of Armenian folk tunes (it is worth checking out Mandalian's "A Call to the Roots" on YouTube). But it is with this gorgeous solo interpretation of Antonio Carlos Jobim/Vinicius de Moraes composition "Brigas Nunca Mais" that we offer you Mandalian, Latin-jazz guitarist extraordinaire.

Where To Hear Jazz In Lebanon

Clearly, most jazz in Lebanon is played in Beirut. There are any number of venues (restaurants, cafes, bars) that will put on a jazz gig, but the music has no dedicated home. The Blue Note Café opened its doors in 1987 and has hosted some big names including Andrew Hill, Sonny Fortune and Chico Freeman. Jazz there, however, has been sidelined by more commercial music as the years have gone by.

Salon Beyrouth is probably Beirut's most stylish venue, with a spacious area outdoors, an attractive food and cocktail menu and a notable whiskey collection. Local and international jazz artists alike play here twice a week. It is the closest thing to a dedicated jazz space in the city.

Other venues where jazz rings out include Metro Al Madina, Nova Lounge, Vesper, Upper Room, The Duke of Wellington, Now Beirut, Onomatopoeia, Aaliya's Books and Four Seasons Hotel. Perhaps Beirut's most famous live venue, Caravanserai—founded by the charismatic George Karajian in 1969—closed its doors in 2021. Jazz gigs were part of a varied musical menu for 52 years in this storied cellar venue in Hamra Street. Caravanserai is missed by its many patrons and musicians.

Thirty minutes by car from Beirut is the Ashtar Jazz Bar in Byblos. Jazz gigs do occasionally take place here, but like many live venues in Beirut a mixture of rock, pop, classical Arabic and blues tend to dominate the schedule. Jazz residencies come and go (as do venues) so it is always a good idea to check listings before heading out.

The Beirut Jazz Festival ran from 2008 until 2012, during which time it attracted big international names. Regional conflict put an end to the festivities. On a smaller scale, the mountainous town of Dhour Shweir, 30km east of Beirut, is home to the Dhour Shweir International Jazz Festival. The first edition of the two-day free festival was held in July 2022 and featured local and regional artists. So far, so good.

Beirut Jazz Society: Putting Jazz On The Lebanese Map

Jazz spreads its wings in April during Beirut International Jazz Week (coinciding with the globally celebrated International Jazz Day), with free workshops, lectures and multiple concerts held in Bhamdoun, Byblos, Ghazir, Tripoli, Zgharta, Jounieh and Beirut. The event first launched in 2022.

The organization behind Beirut International Jazz Week is the Beirut Jazz Society. Founded by Youssef Naim in 2021, Beirut Jazz Society's stated aims are to create opportunities for jazz musicians and to promote jazz in general. After the early success of the first editions of Beirut International Jazz Week the Beirut Jazz Society branched out into music education, with "jam base" workshops fulfilling the dual role of helping young musicians learn to improvise and to connect with their peers.

Beirut Jazz Society has finished making a documentary on jazz in Lebanon, though a release date is not certain at time of writing. Information on gigs, educational workshops and the annual Beirut International Jazz Week can be found on Beirut Jazz Society's Facebook page.

Donna Khalifé

Double bassist, singer and composer Donna Khalife is one of the most original voices on Beirut's jazz/improvised music scene, one who seeks connections between music, dance, theatre and poetry.

Classically trained on piano from an early age, Khalifé moved to Paris in 2003 where she spent the next twelve years working and studying orchestration, conducting and jazz improvisation. Not long after returning to Lebanon Khalifé released her debut album Heavy Dance (Self Produced 2017), a bold and often stormy calling card of beauty, dissonances and angularity. Saxophone, guitar and the leader's wordless vocals are to the fore on original compositions that reveal multiple influences.

That was followed by Hope is the Thing with Feathers (Self Produced, 2019), a more melodious though still adventurous outing which Khalifé launched in October 2019 with a release gig at Metro Al Medina amidst the turmoil and unrest of the nightly anti-government protests. Life goes on.

Khalifé juggles multiple projects. Besides her own trios and quartets, she plays in duos with fellow double bassist and husband Khachatur Savzyan (bass teacher to many of Beirut's finest), drummer Fouad Afra, violinist Dorothée Nodé-Langlois and dancer Khouloud Yassine. With Yassine everything is improvised. "It's very challenging for me but I love that, I love the big risk," Khalifé told All About Jazz in a 2020 interview. "It requires a lot of humility to accept whatever comes, but I like the fact that it's an honest place."

As an educator Khalifé is active in bringing on the next crop of jazz musicians in Lebanon, regularly holding vocal jazz and improvisation workshops. Humility, honesty and risk, these are her calling cards—hard to imagine more potent ones. This video captures Khalifé in Metro Al Medina in captivating form, flowing from jazz standard and Emily Dickenson poetry to wordless song, Arabic and Swedish folk—all the while holding down the bass lines. Her band comprises Raffi Mandalian on guitar, Phillipe Lopes De Sa on saxophones, Arthur Satyan on keys and Fouad Afra (see last video) on drums.

Tarek Yamani

Beirut born, New York-based pianist and composer Tarek Yamani was a guitar-wielding metal-head and hip-hop devotee as a teenager but his first encounter with jazz converted him and his life's path. A self-taught jazz pianist, Yamani has blazed a trail melding jazz with Arabic influences.

Winner of the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Composer's award in 2010 for his composition "Sama'i Yamani," Yamani introduced his Afro-Tarab concept more fully on Lisãn Al Tarab (Edict Records, 2014) then expanded and refined it (switching between piano and quarter-tone keyboards) on Peninsular (Edict Records, 2017), which explored the rhythms of wider Arab world. With Rony Afif, Yaani co-authored of the book The Percussion Ensemble of the Arabian Peninsula (2018)—a collection of transcriptions and descriptions of several dozen rhythms from seven countries of the Arabian Peninsula.

Yamani's musical curiosity has led him to film-score composing and, with "King Mata," electronic music suffused with jazz, Arabic rhythms and maqams. Here we offer "Indisar," a good example of Yamani's highly personal approach to the jazz piano idiom. Khaled Yassine on drums and percussionists Wahid Mubarak and Ahmad Abdel Ramim weave hypnotic rhythms as Yamani revels in the currents.

Makram Aboul Hosn

Bassist and composer Makram Aboul Hosn is a key figure in Beirut jazz circles as a first-call bassist, a leader, film-score composer and educator. Having studied jazz in both Europe and America and having played the politically charged music of Umm Kulthoum, Said Darwish and Sheik Imam, it is safe to say that Hosn's musical perspective is wide.

Totally at home with the jazz cannon, it was his immersion in Arabic music in Beirut that brought home the innate power and meaning of music: "Playing folk music here was a huge wake-up call for me," Hosn told All About Jazz in 2019. "Playing folk music and watching two hundred people sing along is so powerful. It reminded me that music is a communal activity, not an intellectual, isolated activity. You've got to make people feel things."

Emotions are central to Hosn's coming-of-age album Transmigration (Self Produced, 2019), where one standard and nine original compositions underline Hosn's credentials as a composer, arranger and leader to be reckoned with. The spirits of Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus and Sun Ra are certainly present, but it is Hosn's ability to frame protest and rallying cry, celebration and loss in the language of swing, blues and the sort of swagger more typical of a big band that make this such a rewarding listen.

"Mine Or Blues," a pulsating Monk-cum-Mingus mash-up, features Tom Hornig on alto saxophone, Nidal Abou Samra on tenor saxophone, Khaled Yassine on percussion, Christopher Michael on drums, Hosn on walking bass and guest Joe Locke on vibraphones. Hosn had studied with Locke in Holland and it came as a surprise and an honor when Locke named his album Makram (Circle 9, 2023) for his Lebanese student, musical colleague and friend.

Joe Aouad

An equal appreciation of Middle Eastern music, classical Baroque, jazz and African rhythms informs the playing, composing and arranging of guitarist Joe Aouad.

Aouad can be found in a duo with Japanese flute/shinobue player Nobuko Miyazaki, mixing their original compositions with personal takes on traditional Arabic and Japanese songs. With singer Scarlet Mounzer Aouad explores the Brazilian songbook. In the MoniQuartet Aouad filters pop and rock through a jazz prism—bossa nova Metallica anyone? On whatever the project, Aouad leaves his indelible and most elegant imprint.

In February 2024 Aouad's arrangements of popular Italian songs from 1940-2000 took wing at Metro Al Medina, where the guitarist was joined by Italian singer Alessia Squarcella, bassist Makram Aboul Hosn, tenor saxophonist Tom Hornig, drummer Kevin Safadi and trumpeter Simon Salameh. Colored by both jazz and Arabic tones these are fresh takes on much loved Italian songs. A recording of the concert is available on Bandcamp. This video sees Aouad in a solo setting interpreting his beautiful original composition "Waltz The Time."

Bonne Chose

One of the most progressive of contemporary Lebanese outfits is the trio Bonne Chose. It should come as no surprise that bassist Charbel Sawma (who also doubles on synthesizers), pianist/keyboardist Rami Abou Khalil and drummer Abdo Sawma sound so tight, so attuned to each other's wavelengths, as the three are childhood friends who discovered together the musical roots and branches that inform their music.

Jazz is just one thread of Bonne Chose's music. Arabic song, jazz-fusion, improv, prog—all this and more shape the contours of Bonne Chose's enticing musical landscape.

Only In Lebanon!

Along with all the other challenges faced by the Lebanese is the frequent inconvenience of power cuts. In August 2024, the Lebanese state electricity company—which provides just four hours of electricity per day —announced that fuel supplies of its only operating power plant were exhausted. This news came with the warning that even essential services such as the airport, sewage systems, the seaport and water pumps, along with everything else, would be affected. The government advised people to save all the water they could.

Plus ça change plus c'est la même chose, the Lebanese must be thinking. Total blackouts have happened before. In 2013, Arthur Satyan (keys), Makram Aboul Hosn (bass), Rima Abou Aoun (vocals) and Fouad Afra (drums) were swinging Antonio Carlos Jobim's "One Note Samba" at Nova when a power cut plunged the room into darkness. Afra kept on soloing and the band played on. "Only in Lebanon!" someone is heard to shout.

Only in Lebanon.

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