Ibrahim Maalouf: Will soon be a woman

Born in Lebanon and now based in France, Ibrahim Maalouf is a young jazz trumpet player whose sound can truly be described as unique.  Ibrahim Maalouf plays a “hybrid” trumpet fitted with a fourth valve, allowing him to play the quarter tones specific the Arabic melodic modes and scales. The instrument was designed in the late 1960s by his father Nassim Maalouf, a classical trumpet player himself.  Playing the quarter tone trumpet in a Jazz/Fusion context generates a totally new and unexpected tonal palette that would otherwise be very difficult to achieve with a standard instrument.