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[Listen to Ibrahim Maalouf in the Nextplayer]
Maalouf was born into a family of intellectuals and artists. 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. His family fled Lebanon in the midst of a civil war and Maalouf grew up in the Paris suburbs with both parents and his sister Layla, who is two years older than he is. He began to study the trumpet at the age of 7 with his father Nassim Maalouf, a former student of Maurice André at the Paris Higher National Conservatory of Music and Dance. In fact, his father was the inventor of the micro-tonal trumpet, called “quarter tone trumpet”, which makes it possible to play Arab maqams on the trumpet.
Between 1999 and 2003, Maalouf earned awards in 15 competitions throughout the world. In 2006, after exploring many different musical paths, he met Alejandra Norambuena Skira (from the SACEM’s Action Fund), who introduced him to Jean-Louis Perrier. Jean-Louis helped him to form the band with whom he gave a concert on February 12, 2006 at the Paris New Morning Jazz Club. From that moment on, he became a recognized figure of the Paris Oriental Electro Jazz Scene. 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.
After having featured on the albums of many different artists, Ibrahim issued his first album in October 2007. Produced, composed and directed by him with the help of François Lalonde (percussionist and co-director of the latest electro album by the two Montrealians Lhasa de Sela and Alex MacMahon), he recorded a lot of the music in Beirut and Montreal and finished the recording and the sound mixing in Paris. The album was mastered in New York. Ibrahim considers this album a bit like a book. He can’t « write a book » in one and a half hours on stage but he can « recite some poems ». Live music is in his view totally different from the music recorded on a disc. Ibrahim worked for more than 3 and a half years on this album between Paris, Montreal and Beirut and over 30 musicians took part in its creation. Launched in October 2007 by Ibrahim’s own label « Mi’ster productions » the album was widely acclaimed by the press. National and international newspapers, weekly magazines and others devoted to jazz, rock and music have recognized the value of this work. « A great discovery, of rare elegance » according to Jazz Magazine, « an impressive first album » according to the Journal du Dimanche, « a virtuoso – a renovator of this instrument » according to Les Inrockuptibles, « a masterpiece » according to Mondomix (4 stars in the Jazzman review and three keys in Telerama).
