Naïssam Jalal

Born in Paris in 1984 into a family of Syrian painter-artists, Naïssam Jalal has developed a musical language at the crossroads of jazz, Arab music, improvisation and influences from Hindustani and Manding traditions. Initially trained on the Western flute, she went to Damascus to study the nay and then continued her training in Cairo with Abdu Dagher before working between Paris and Beirut. Back in France in the mid-2000s, Naïssam Jalal played with Rayess Bek and Hazem Shaheen while leading her own projects. Her discography as a leader begins with Aux résistances (2009) and unfolds with the quintet Rhythms of Resistance on Osloob Hayati (2015) and Almot Wala Almazala (2016), where modal breath, Afro-American rhythms and politically engaged writing intermingle. She then explored several formats, from the Arabic hip-hop of Al Akhareen with Osloob on the album Al Akhareen (2018) to a dialogue with Hazem Shaheen on Liqaa the same year, and the contemplative trio Quest of the Invisible in 2019. Om Al Aagayeb, released in 2019 and recorded in Cairo with Egyptian musicians, further broadened this trajectory, followed by Un Autre Monde (2021), Healing Rituals (2023) and the creation Landscapes of Eternity (2024), inspired by North Indian classical music.