by Colin May
August 07, 2025
/ LIVE
With his evocative use of dynamics and catchy main themes, his trumpet told stories that have a broad appeal. Add his charisma and energy, and he had the audience of 6000 eating out of his hand.
Ibrahim Maalouf
BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall
29 July 2025
Ibrahim Maalouf Quarter Tone Trumpet
BBC Symphony Orchestra conductor Jules Buckley
BBC Singers
Trumpets of Michel-Ange (five) Quarter Tone Trumpets
Jake Wilson Guitar
Yves Fernandez Bass Guitar
Rob Gentry Keyboard
Doug Harper Drums
An excitable and sold out Albert Hall gives Ibrahim Maalouf a warm welcome as he steps onto its stage for his Proms debut. The French Lebanese trumpeter, composer and producer is known for mixing western and Arabic genres by using a trumpet with a fourth valve that was invented by his father that enables him to play quarter tones characteristic of Arabic music and western scales on the one instrument.
The BBC Proms has put him together with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Singers conducted by Jules Buckley with whom Maalouf has previously worked. Maalouf tells the Albert Hall he’s had difficulty deciding what from his nineteen albums to play. It turns out that everything he’s chosen has an appealing melodic main theme, and all the numbers express something personal to Maalouf and also carry a broader message. Jules Buckley has arranged one of these numbers, with others being orchestrated by different arrangers all of whom previously have done work for orchestras conducted by Buckley.
Maalouf starts with ‘Red and Black Light’, his trumpet sounding meditative and soulful in what is said to be a tribute to his mother and sister, both of whom are present, and to women in general. He breaks off mid-number to get the audience to rehearse singing the main theme ahead of them joining in with the forces on stage which they then do. I am promming and standing in the arena just a few feet from the stage, and it is quite something to be enveloped by the sound of all those voices coming from all parts of the Albert Hall.
The next two numbers are from the 2024 album ‘Trumpets of Michel-Ange,’ and are what Maalouf calls his “wedding party.” ‘Love Anthem’ bounces with the excitement and joy that spreads from two people when they’ve fallen in love, and Maalouf urges all the audience to join the celebrations by getting to their feet and dancing. As far as I could see nearly everyone does while Maalouf solos three times. The first solo has a Latin American flavour while the other two have an Arabic tone. The last one is a variation on the main theme and the jumping off point for Maalouf to lead the five Trumpets of Michel- Ange and the on-stage forces into a rumbustious concluding passage.
It’s followed by a gentler, ballad-like number, ‘Fly with Me’, which Maalouf tells us is about the moment in the marriage ceremony when the couple say “yes” to one another. For Maalouf this is a metaphor for the hope that peoples of the world might find common ground. He solos for some time in the style of mainstream contemporary jazz, initially accompanied quietly by just keyboard, guitar and drums. It’s an intimate jazz quartet moment before the orchestra comes in. Towards the end of the number his soloing becomes more Arabic and then the voices of the BBC Singers and the audience enter and swell the final choruses.
Maalouf explains that the next piece, ‘True Sorry’ which he wrote in 2013, is inspired by a dream he had about a man seeking redemption. He composed the music to make peace with himself, including with his experiences during the Lebanese Civil War, and it comes a broader message about finding peace and reconciliation in the world.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4XiCcetyFe/
His trumpet starts slow paced and reflective accompanied very effectively only by few notes from the keyboardist before the orchestra comes in and the sound grows. Eventually the voices of the BBC Singers join with a big wordless choral ostinato before Maalouf then finishes off playing quietly accompanied by the strings.
It’s back to recent ‘The Trumpets of Michel-Ange’ album for the last number, ‘Au Revoir’. Maalouf plays fluttering quarter tones as his trumpet cries and even wails at the parting, with for a time only a steady drum beat for company. The voices of the audience join with the professional singers and the orchestra for the big choral finale which Maalouf gets repeated but with the audience now holding up their phone torch lights until the music quietly fades out. A bit of a cliché perhaps, but the sight of all those pinpricks of light in the big darkened space it is beautiful and quite moving.
All the orchestrations in the concert have been within the boundaries of western music. One aspect has been they’ve brought out the cinematic element in Maalouf’s music, a reminder that it’s an album of film music written by Maalouf that first brought him to Ian Mann’s attention
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/ibrahim-maalouf-wind
While arguably the arrangements have heightened the emotional peaks in his music, for too much of the time they were rather bland and lacking in tension though I am sure the members of the BBC Symphony and Singers did their utmost to make them interesting. The best moments came when there hardly was any orchestration with Maalouf being accompanied by just the keyboardist or just the drummer or when the five Trumpets of Michel-Ange added their ‘umph’.
Maalouf’s performance though was stellar. He’s a magnificent trumpeter, and a man for the big occasion. Equally at home playing mainstream jazz riffs or Arabic maqam, the warm tone of his playing created a sense of intimacy in the big venue. With his evocative use of dynamics and catchy main themes, his trumpet told stories that have a broad appeal. Add his charisma and energy, and he had the audience of 6000 eating out of his hand.
Ahead of the event Maalouf talked about how important the occasion was for him and he seized the moment, making sure that his Proms debut was a celebration of his culture and his music.
https://www.thejazzmann.com/features/article/colin-may-interviews-ibrahim-maalouf
Set List
Red and Black Light (From ‘Red and Black Light’ 2015) arr Jules Buckley
Love Anthem (from ‘Trumpets of Michel-Ange’ 2024) arr Tim Davies
Fly with Me (from ‘Trumpets of Michel-Ange’ 2024) arr Jochen Neuffer
True Sorry (from ‘Illusions’ 2013) arr Vladimir Nikolov
Au Revoir (from Trumpets of Michel-Ange 2024) arr Vladimir Nikolov
Ibrahim Maalouf played the first half of BBC Prom 15, a double header with Pakistani- American singer, composer and producer Arooj Aftab. It is available on BBC Sounds
from 29 July for 68 days.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002g1rm
For more on Ibrahim Maalouf please see his website.
https://www.ibrahimmaalouf.com/en/
COLIN MAY