Ibrahim Maalouf
Louis Matute Large Ensemble
[COMPLETE]

Ibrahim Maalouf has a well-established reputation for being curious, for experimenting and for adoring shared moments and new connections. This tireless trumpet player, composer and producer loves spreading joy, emotion, wisdom and sound values. And improvisation is his creed, forever and always. It has become his philosophy (and a book): ‘A blank page on which anything can still be written, even the wildest of dreams, even the most incredible of hopes.’ What dream could be wilder than playing Michelangelo’s trumpets? And yet that’s this trumpet player’s new project: ‘T.O.M.A’, for « Trumpets Of Michelangelo ». 

‘T.O.M.A’ is first and foremost the name of a bespoke trumpet, the one Ibrahim always dreamed of. Look closely: it has four pistons (one of his father’s inventions); these are for the precious quarter tones in compositions shaped by his Middle Eastern roots. And this is the instrument he plays on stage and that he trains young musicians to use.

‘T.O.M.A’ is also as colourful an album as the rest of the trumpet player’s music. It draws on so many different sources of inspiration, from jazz to classical, pop, oriental and urban music. 

Finally, ‘T.O.M.A’ will also be a huge celebration for this year’s opening night, which will bring together people from all generations and at all career stages: from the young to the confident, from amateurs to those who regularly accompany Ibrahim Maalouf on stage. And a great many guests too, because the more the merrier!

Line-up :

• Ibrahim Maalouf (t)
• François Delporte (elg)
• Mohamed Derouich (g)
• Mihaï Pirvan (sax)
• Yacha Berdah (t)
• Manel Girard (t)
• Yvan Djaouti (t)
• Nizar Ali (t)
• Julian Tekeyan (dms)

Behold Swiss Jazz’s newest generation, one that you would be hard pressed to pin down. That’s certainly the case when it comes to guitarist Louis Matute. From his Honduran father, he has roots in Latin American music. And thanks to his German mother, he has an ear for classical music. What a wonderful combination! With such music-loving parents, you might have expected him to be fiddling with an instrument by the time he was babbling his first words, but it was only much later, as a teenager, that he accepted to try his hand, spurred on as he was by his parents. He took up the electric guitar and in Spain, faced with flamenco, his calling was revealed. Flamenco, contemporary jazz; everything merged, everything blended. From then on, his trajectory has been exemplary: training by Lionel Louéké and Wolfgang Muthspiel at Lausanne’s Haute Ecole de Musique, success at the Cully Jazz Festival and the triumph of many prizes. Yet, at the heart of Louis Matute’s success story are connections with others, including saxophonist Léon Phal, who has been by his side from his very first projects. Through these connections, the guitarist has developed his own lore, a bright melting pot combining brass, oud, trumpet and piano. The guitar, which is the band’s only electric instrument, gives all the others free rein to breathe.

Line-up :

• Léon Phal (ts)
• Louis Matute (elg)
• Zacharie Ksyk (t)
• Andrew Audiger (p, elp)
• Virgile Rosselet (cb)
• Nathan Vandenbulcke (dms)