More than 12,000 people visited the events of this year’s Brno Jazzfest, which was topped off by trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf this Tuesday in the packed Sono Center. The concert was standing room only. Last year, the attendance exceeded 15,000 people in 21 evenings, while this year the show had 18 evenings, said organizer Petr Svoboda.
A forty-three-year-old native of Beirut, Lebanon, Maalouf returned to Brno almost ten years after his last performance, which was still full at the Fléda club. This time he came with a large band and a new program Trumpets of Michel Ange, the name of which refers to the Renaissance genius Michelangelo.
Maalouf combines jazz, pop, electronica, rap and hip hop, generally the influences of Western and Arab traditions, while in some positions he was close to Nordic jazz and referred to the Norwegian trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær, for example. But he partially inherited the technique from his father, also a trumpet player.
“At the moment, he is probably the most popular French instrumentalist. His popularity on the domestic stage, combined with his work for the film industry, means that Maalouf’s trips abroad are increasingly rare,” adds the festival’s artistic director, jazz guitarist Vilém Spilka himself.
Maalouf was born in Lebanon, but grew up in Paris, where his family fled before the civil war. Over the past 15 years, he has produced, composed or arranged more than twenty albums for himself and other artists. He also composed many symphonic compositions and worked on music for 20 films. He is a promoter of improvisation and its inclusion in music education.
The organizers of the Jazzfest have already announced the program for 2024. The first concert will be performed on January 31 by Nduduzo Makhathini, a South African pianist and composer, who will also be heard by the audience of the Jazz Dock club in Prague a day earlier. Saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin, trumpeter Chris Botti and recent winner of two Grammy awards, singer Samara Joy, will also come to Brno. The band Snarky Puppy returns, and most importantly, banjo player and 15 Grammy Award winner Béla Fleck.
Video: Single Beirut by Ibrahim Maalouf
Ibrahim Maalouf’s single Beirut has over seven million views on YouTube alone. | Video: Mister Records
