Oriental Jazz Master Ibrahim Maalouf To Play At The Pyramids

Jazz aficionados are in for a treat this month when Lebanese jazz sensation Ibrahim Maalouf arrives in Cairo to perform at the Sound and Light Theater at the Pyramids. The concert, held under the auspices of the Tourism Development Authority, will take place March 19 and is brought to you by Sawt Music, the full service music agency behind Cairo performances of acts the likes of Cairo Steps, Souad Massi, Tania Salah, The Trio Khalife, Egyptian Project, Rim Banna, Lena Chamamyan and Ghalia Benali.

The son of renowned trumpeter Nassim Maalouf, Ibrahim followed in his father’s footsteps and started playing the trumpet at the age of seven. Maalouf was born in 1980 in Lebanon and then moved to France with his family where he studied under Maurice Andre at the Paris Higher National Conservatory of Music and Dance.

Maalouf shot to international stardom after his major hit Beirut took audiences the world over by storm. The Jazz-Rock fusion piece was inspired by Led Zeppelin and what was happening in Lebanon at the time of the civil war. A recognized figure on the Paris Oriental electro jazz scene, Maalouf’s music is heavily inspired by his Arab background though one critic points out the instruments around him — bass, electric guitar, drums, Arabic percussion and vibraphones — and the musicians he plays with 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 Maalouf calls “a collective universal prayer.”

In 2014, the Oriental Jazz master, who is also and composer and arranger, nabbed Best World Music Artist at the French Music Awards. In 2015, he released two new projects: Red & Black Light and Kolthoum, an instrumental remake of the well-known song “Alf Leila W Leila” (One Thousand and One Nights) sung by the legendary Oum Kolthoum.

By the end of 2015 there was a huge demand by jazz lovers in Egypt for a performance by Maalouf. Sawt Music, which has 18 years of experience in the marketing, advertising, art, and music industries, will be bringing Maalouf to the Pyramids to kick off the musician’s world tour promoting Red & Black Light.