Ibrahim Maalouf, the new voice of the jazz trumpet, joins UMO Jazz Orchestra at the Savoy Theatre on Sunday 27 November.
UMO’s list of international guests will grow this November by one of the hottest names of the jazz world: the Lebanon-born, Paris-based trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf. Drawing from his cultural background, this virtuoso musician translates the melancholy mindscape of his home region into a unique, original music, seasoning it with Arabic flavours, jazz, hip hop, film music and even rock. Dubbed the new voice of the jazz trumpet, Maalouf is known for his nuanced, expressive playing and improvisation.
Maalouf initially began playing and composing when only a little boy. He has released eight albums to date; the two latest of which, Red & Black Light and Kalthoum, came out in 2015. In addition to his career as a jazz musician, Maalouf has composed for symphony orchestras, choirs and cinema, one of his best-known scores being for the 2015 Yves Saint Laurent biopic. His CV includes collaborations with the likes of Sting, Elvis Costello, Oxmo Puccino and Amadou & Mariam, and he has hoarded various prizes not only for his work in the field of jazz but classical music also.
In this collab concert with UMO, we will be in for Maalouf’s originals in big band arrangements by the composer and arranger guru, pianist Jim McNeely, originally written for the Frankfurt-based hr-Bigband. We will also be hearing a number of entirely new arrangements from Maalouf’s most recent albums.
Ibrahim Maalouf & UMO
Conductor: Mikko Hassinen
Sun 27 Nov at 18.00 Savoy Theatre, Helsinki
Tickets available at 34 € / 30 € / 17 € on Ticketmaster
Photo: Denis Rouvre.