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Ibrahim Maalouf

In 16 albums, Ibrahim Maalouf has gone from being the winner of the world's greatest international classical trumpet competitions to the most popular jazz artist on the French music scene. Filling the Volkswagen Arena in Istanbul, the Lincoln Jazz Center in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in 2016 he became the first jazz musician in history to sell out France's largest concert hall, the Accor Arena in Paris Bercy.

Spotted by living legend Quincy Jones and described as a "Virtuoso" by the New York Times, Ibrahim has collaborated in recent years with Wynton Marsalis, Angelique Kidjo, Melody Gardot, the Chronos Quartet, Trilok Gurtu, Josh Groban, Marcus Miller, Salif Keita, and many others.

In 2021 he appeared on Stephen Colbert's Late Show with Jon Batiste, who introduced him as a living jazz legend.

After participating alongside Sting in the reopening of the Bataclan in Paris, then paying tribute at his funeral to Tignous, one of the murdered Charlie Hebdo cartoonists, then honouring the memory of the victims of the attacks in autumn 2015 during a national tribute by composing an anthem sung by the young Louane, the musician and film music composer, who has won several awards (Victoires de la musique, Césars, Lumières, etc.), has in just a few years become a key artist and a symbol of intercultural dialogue.), has become in a few years a key artist and a symbol of intercultural dialogue to the point of being chosen to sing the national anthem in front of 6 million television viewers on 14 July 2021 at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Never where you'd expect him to be, with this 17th album, Ibrahim Maalouf intends to make his mark with popular, new, surprising and innovative music.

A look back at the story of Ibrahim Maalouf

Born in Beirut in 1980, Ibrahim Maalouf is today the most popular instrumentalist on the French music scene. His work in blending genres has been recognised throughout the world for more than 15 years.

His career has taken him to over 40 countries around the world and to the most prestigious venues.

During a concert at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2017, he was spotted by legendary producer Quincy Jones. Following this meeting, Ibrahim became one of the artists that the American producer regularly promotes via the Los Angeles-based Quincy Jones Productions.

With his 11th studio album 'S3NS' in September 2019. Ibrahim will perform at the Olympia in Paris on 23, 24 and 25 September to a full house. These three dates mark the beginning of a series of Zeniths concerts throughout France as well as a world tour.

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Radio & Podcasts

Ibrahim Maalouf: a Conversation on Harmony, Heritage, and Hope

Read "Ibrahim Maalouf: a Conversation on Harmony, Heritage, and Hope" reviewed by Lawrence Peryer


Today, the Spotlight shines On trumpet virtuoso and international superstar Ibrahim Maalouf. Ibrahim is exactly the type of artist we love hosting on the podcast--sensitive, open and unwilling to be limited by genre or expectations. His work mixes jazz, pop, classical, electronic, Middle Eastern, and African influences into a cosmopolitan sound all his own. Ibrahim and his family fled the civil war in Beirut when he was still a child, settling in France, where his musical ...

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Radio & Podcasts

Ibrahim Maalouf: If You Want To See The Future, Just Watch The Culture Today

Read "Ibrahim Maalouf: If You Want To See The Future, Just Watch The Culture Today" reviewed by Leo Sidran


When Ibrahim Maalouf's parents decided to move to Paris from Beirut in the early 1980s, it was meant to be temporary. The Lebanese civil war was raging and they chose to raise their family away from the violence. But the intention was always to return to Lebanon when the war ended. They did their best to educate their children in the traditional way, and because they were both musicians themselves, music was hugely important to them. They played arabic music ...

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Album Review

Melody Gardot: Sunset in the Blue - The Deluxe Version

Read "Sunset in the Blue - The  Deluxe Version" reviewed by William H. Snyder


Henri Matisse, the master of the use of color, said, “Art should be something like a good armchair in which to rest from physical fatigue." Melody Gardot's Sunset in the Blue: The Deluxe Version shows its mastery, in both the color of its cover design and the execution of its musicianship. Back in the day, Matisse got in trouble with some art critics for his simile. Some listeners might have a similar reaction to Melody's music, but not all. Gardot's ...

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Album Review

Melody Gardot: Sunset in the Blue

Read "Sunset in the Blue" reviewed by Scott Gudell


Melody Gardot emerged from her own smoky shadows of the mid-2000s as if she were some femme fatale emanating from a film noir movie. The plot twist was that she was the good girl, but it was her body that had been damaged in an auto accident. An extensive recovery followed. Her long, lean cane only reinforced her long, lean looks. The shades added just a touch of mystery. If there was anything positive, it was that she confronted the ...

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Album Review

Ibrahim Maalouf: 40 Melodies

Read "40 Melodies" reviewed by Matt Hooke


The age of 40, in America at least, is looked at with fear as the start of middle age. For many, it is a state of limbo; the knee pains say they are not young; however, that black hair says they are not old either. Many people buy a motorcycle or start an ill-conceived fling with a college sweetheart. Ibrahim Maalouf celebrated his fortieth with 40 Melodies, a work which features the trumpet player revisiting songs from his past and ...

Album Review

Ibrahim Maalouf: Live Tracks 2006-2016

Read "Live Tracks 2006-2016" reviewed by Luca Muchetti


Quello che ci piace è il taglio sempre al confine, la capacità di costruire temi circolari poco banali, sono le influenze mediorientali che hanno reso la tromba di Ibrahim Maalouf inconfondibile come un marchio di fabbrica. Ci piacciono le atmosfere incandescenti dei locali di Istanbul che nel DVD abbinato al CD mostrano un pubblico di giovani che ascoltano le evoluzioni di Maalouf cantando ogni singola nota. Ci piace l'esibizione accanto alla grande Juliette Gréco, raccolta all'Olympia nel 2014, ci piace ...

Album Review

Ibrahim Maalouf: Red & Black Light

Read "Red & Black Light" reviewed by Luca Muchetti


Alla fine del 2016 lo abbiamo visto duettare con Sting sul palco del Bataclan note di “Ishallah," sulle orme di una speranza possibile e necessaria. Oggi riascoltiamo Ibrahim Maalouf nel suo Red & Black Light, ultima fatica in studio pubblicata dalla Impulse!, terreno liquido nel quale lungo otto tracce il trombettista franco-libanese getta ponti fra mondi e linguaggi differenti. Occidente e oriente dialogano infatti nel mélange di suoni vicini a un funk elettrico e attraversati da rotte ...

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Performance / Tour

Brandi Disterheft, Charlie Hunter, Sophie Hunger and Ibrahim Maalouf Light up L'astral

Brandi Disterheft, Charlie Hunter, Sophie Hunger and Ibrahim Maalouf Light up L'astral

Source: AAJ Staff

Organizers of the Jazz All Year-Round series, part of the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal presented by TD, are proud to add four concerts to the marquee at L'Astral, the magnificent venue housed by the Maison du Festival Rio Tinto Alcan. We welcome three revelations and a “young veteran" who shone last year, especially at the Festival: young Canadian acoustic bassist Brandi Disterheft, spellbinding Swiss singer Sophie Hunger, supremely gifted Franco-Lebanese trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf and virtuoso American guitarist Charlie ...

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band / ensemble / orchestra
Syna Awel
vocals

Photos

Concerts

Apr 17 Wed
Apr 26 Fri
Ibrahim Maalouf
MTELUS
Montreal, Canada

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

40 Melodies

Mis'Ter
2020

buy

You've changed

Sony Music
2019

buy

Red & Black Light

Impulse! Records
2017

buy

Live Tracks 2006-2016

Impulse! Records
2016

buy

Kalthoum

Impulse! Records
2015

buy

Videos

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