Virtuoso trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf lives up to his reputation as ‘a living legend of jazz’ as he reconvenes the Trumpets of Michel-Ange ensemble to re-integrate the musics of the world. With a stellar cast of guests…
A LIVING LEGEND OF JAZZ
Over the past few years, French-Lebanese trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf has become one of the most popular instrumentalists in the world. The prolific Jon Baptiste (one of several stellar guests to feature on this album) has described Ibrahim as: “A living legend of jazz,” and, on the evidence provided by this, Ibrahim’s 21st album, that’s no casual use of hyperbole.
Ibrahim doesn’t confine himself to any narrow musical classification, either. Since the early 2000s, he’s established himself across a wide range of genres, including pop, jazz, urban music and world music – and those genres, and more, are all to be found – somewhere – on Trumpets Of Michel-Ange: Vol 2.
TRUMPETS OF MICHEL-ANGE
Trumpets Of Michel-Ange is an ensemble of professional trumpet players, trained and brought together around Ibrahim Maalouf, thanks to a broad initiative aimed at making the quarter-tone trumpet, created by Ibrahim’s father, accessible. In the late summer of 2024, the ensemble released its acclaimed, self-titled, debut album and, such was the album’s success, that it led to over 140 concert dates, in countries all over the world.
The album extends the narrative of that debut album whilst, at the same time, broadening its horizons. The amazing impact of the intertwining trumpets is further boosted by the contributions of a stellar cast of guests – and I’ll come to them shortly – and the result is a collection of tunes that doesn’t just blur the boundaries between different styles and different musical traditions, it grinds them into dust.
JAZZ! FUNK! CUBAN! ARABIAN EXOTICA!
The album gets off to a blistering start with Bring The Light, the lead single and a track that I’ve already described as: “Breathless.” Guests Jon Baptiste, Trombone Shorty, Mononeon, Pedrito Martinez, Weedie Braimah and Anthony Evans & His Gospel Choir all do their bit in setting a joyous, jazzy and funky agenda for the album. It’s a tune that sums up, in less than 5 minutes, just what can be achieved by a brass ensemble and a red-hot gospel choir.
Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba is the guest for the exquisite Oui, Je Le Veux. Ibrahim and Gonzalo put their heads together to invent a musical style that welds cool Cuban café jazz to Arabian exotica and the impact is startling and immediate. I’ve honestly never heard a trumpet used in such an innovative, exotic way – and Gonzalo’s piano parts are equally breathtaking.
Jazzy and enticingly Arabian, the captivating Layla’s Wedding is a tune that you’d surely be compelled to dance to, if only you knew how. A New York Times’ music critic once described Ibrahim as a ‘virtuoso.’ That’s something of an understatement, methinks…
GOD’S TRUMPETERS
Latin rhythms take initial prominence for Zaatar & Zeit, and the tune slides along nicely, but the Eastern influences soon make their return and things get wilder and wilder, the longer the tune progresses. If you can imagine a Brazilian bossa-nova band preforming in a Moroccan souk and being gradually joined by a group of local musicians, you’ll get the picture…
The title of Las Trompetas de Nael translates loosely as “God’s trumpeters,” and that’s a believable description. Handclaps help to punctuate the samba rhythm, as Ibrahim explores the outer limits of the sounds that can be wrung from a quarter-tone trumpet. It’s another compulsive body-mover, guaranteed to leave the listener as breathless as Ibraham surely was after playing the tune’s breakneck-speed coda.
Palestinian vocalist Nai Barghouti and Brazilian bandolinist Hamilton De Holander bring their collective magic along to spice-up the busy, funky, hypnotic Two To One. Nai’s vocals combine ecstasy and anguish, and they blend seamlessly with Ibrahim’s trumpet, whilst Hamilton’s bandoline solo is almost unbelievable. It’s brisk, it’s jazzy and Ibrahim’s trumpet sizzles.
FLAMENCO LIKE YOU’VE NEVER HEARD...
The guests for Chasing The Sun are accordionist Richard Galliano and Spanish flamenco quartet Las Migas and, once again, the guests make their considerable presence felt. Las Migas belt out their vocal message with what can only be described as ‘urgency,’ before Richard and Ibrahim take turns at baffling listeners with their respective mastery. A guitar keeps up the flamenco rhythm but, really, this is flamenco like you’ve never heard before!
Indian/American flautist Rasika Shekar sets the theme for the joyful, Indian-flavoured stomp, Gulham. The bassline is pure reggae and Ibrahim injects sprinklings of jazz, and the message is clear: Never mind categorization – music is music. Enjoy it for what it is!
“A DREAM OF SHARING AND TRANSMISSION”
And finally… Richard Galliano returns with his accordion for Hold Your Peace, the album’s dreamlike, easy-going closing track. Virtuosity doesn’t necessarily deliver melodicism, but it certainly does here, as Richard and Ibrahim interchange with the lead role. The tune is reminiscent of something that would play over the closing credits of an epic movie and, as it plays, the picture does, indeed, seem to be complete. Trumpets Of Michel-Ange: Vol 2 is a thoroughly satisfying album.
“Trumpets oO Michel-Ange was born as a dream of sharing and transmission,” explains Ibrahim. “Today, this dream takes on a new dimension: seeing these musicians express themselves together, free themselves, and carry this music on their own is the project’s most precious fulfillment.”
And – more good news – Ibrahim is currently taking Trumpets Of Michel-Ange on a world tour, the itinerary of which includes UK dates in Cardiff, Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds, London and Cambridge. Full details of the tour can be found here.
Listen to Las Trompetas de Nael – a track from the album – below:
Ibrahim Maalouf: Website