The Lebanese-French trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf is reaching beyond his classical and jazz roots to a more mainstream audience, seducing them with his unique musical style, which blends Arabic and western influences.
The 34-year-old, who has worked with Sting in the past, said that he is finally fulfilling his “dream” of composing film scores – and has three more in the pipeline.
On the sidelines of a London concert, Maalouf spoke of the "freedom offered by art" after the release of Au Pays d'Alice (In the Land of Alice), his musical take on the British classic fantasy novel Alice in Wonderland.
The record mixes Franco- Malian hip-hop artist Oxmo Puccino with a classical orchestra and a children’s choir – the kind of world music work that is winning Maalouf a growing number of fans.
“I don’t just do Oriental music: I do my music. There’s a bit of jazz, a bit of the Orient, a bit of rock, a bit of hip-hop: everything I love and listen to can be found in my music,” he said. “I see my albums as the soundtrack of daily life.”
The musician said he was particularly pleased about composing the scores for three films this year: the biopic Yves Saint Laurent about the life of the famous fashion designer, as well as an Iranian art-house movie and a French teenage comedy.
“This was a logical move. I worked for four years on my first album and for me it was a movie soundtrack that I wanted to present to directors,” said Maalouf. “It was my dream” to work in the film industry, said the son of a Christian family from Beirut who fled to Paris during the Lebanese civil war.
He first performed on stage with his father Nassim Maalouf, also a renowned trumpet player, as a young boy. “I was 8 or 9. Once the concert was over, I went off to play marbles,” said Maalouf.
Using a unique trumpet designed by his father, he is able to play the quarter-tones of Arabic music, thanks to an extra fourth valve.
