Naïssam Jalal

Naïssam Jalal (flute, vocals, composer), Sougata Roy Chowdhury (sarod), Leonardo Montana (piano), Anuja Borude (pakhawaj), Zaza Desiderio (drums), Flo Comment (tanpura)

Franco-Syrian flutist, singer and prolific composer, Naïssam Jalal, has become firmly established as one of the most singular figures of contemporary Jazz. Born in Paris to Syrian parents, her career is a reflection of the life-path of a free, nomadic, artistic identity that transcends cultural borders. Her music is vital fusion between East and West, stemming from training that began with classic flute at a conservatory in Paris, then reinforced through trips to Syria and Egypt, where she went in search of her cultural roots.

Jalal is equally versatile with the western flute and the Arab nay, and has assimilated diverse musical traditions: from classical Arab and European music, to Jazz, hip-hop, funk, tango and different African musical forms. Her insatiable curiosity and extraordinary technical skill are such that she builds bridges between cultures, styles and generations, creating a musical language that is uniquely hers.

She has collaborated with the crème de la crème of African musicians on the Parisian scene (Cheikh Tidiane Seck, Mamani Keita, Abdoulaye Traore, Mohamed Diaby, Hilaire Penda, Moh Kouyaté, Hervé Samb), the great names of French Jazz and international Jazz, (Hamid Drake, Michael Blake, Bojan Z, Sophia Domanchich, Claude Tchamitchian, Andy Emler, Médéric Collignon, Nelson Veras, Anne Paceo), as well as those of Arab music (Noura Mint Seymali, Aziz Sahmaoui, Amazigh Kateb, Lena Shamamyan, Karim Ziad, Macadi Nahhas, Youssef Hbeish, Zied Zouari, Ahmad Alkhatib). She has performed with several international rap artists, the likes of Mike Ladd, Napoleon Maddox, and the Palestinian rap group, Katibeh 5, as well as Latin American artists such as Melingo. She also composes music for the cinema, dance and the theatre, and is, at present, leading four musical projects.

In her nine albums, Jalal has offered audiences intimate, moving sound experiences, in which her capacity for conveying emotion and spirituality stands out.

She is coming to this 60th edition of Jazzaldia with her new project, Landscapes of Eternity (2024), compositions inspired in Hindustani music soundscapes, the music of the north of India. It stems from a trip she made there on her own, for several months, to that part of the country, where she fully absorbed the spirit of Hindustani music and composed a deeply introspective repertoire, rooted in everything she felt and lived during that sojourn. Jalal will be accompanied by traditional Indian musicians like Samrat Pandit (vocals), Debasmita Bhattacharya and Sougata Roy Chowdhury (sarod), Anuja Borude (pakhawaj) and Flo Comment (tanpura), together with Jazz musicians like Leonardo Montana (piano) and Zaza Desiderio (drums). Landscapes of Eternity takes us into the mental landscapes spawned by trance, melodies and atmospheres that ooze intimacy and spirituality, which connect us with the cosmos and the history of an entire community of human beings.