www.MalekJandali.com | www.PianosForPeace.org
Hailed by Fanfare Magazine as “a major new addition to the 21st century’s symphonic literature,” Malek Jandali’s symphonic works have been described by Gramophone as “deeply enigmatic with voices and in tongues emerging from the composer’s Syrian heritage that generously repay more reflective listening” with “heart-rending melodies, lush orchestration, clever transitions and creative textures.” American Record Guide.

His large-scale orchestral works integrate Arabic maqams (modes) with persuasive craft and a marked seriousness of purpose that echo UNESCO’s call to preserve and protect the rich cultural heritage of his homeland Syria at a time when it is being eradicated. “Jandali captures the struggle, trauma and triumph of our displaced brothers and sisters, through the voice of a child. It is a beautiful and important message.” Marin Alsop

Recent commissions and premieres include a Viola Concerto for Roberto Diaz, a String Quartet for the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, and a world premiere by Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Marin Alsop who described The Silent Ocean as “an evocative and emotional journey for musicians and audience members. In this piece Jandali captures the struggle, trauma and triumph of our displaced brothers and sisters, through the voice of a child. It is a beautiful and important message.” 

His causes go beyond those of humanitarian activism, as he is regularly recognized by and invited to speak to key academic institutions such as Harvard University, the Skoll World Form at Oxford, Duke University, Aspen Ideas Festival, Fordham University, the United Nations headquarters in New York City and the Doha Debates at Georgetown University in Qatar, TEDx Talk at Georgia Tech and Sydney Ideas talk at the University of Sydney.

Mr. Jandali also has self-produced seven albums representing excellent performances of 40 of his compositions. His albums Syrian Symphony, SoHo, Hiraeth, and The Jasmine Tree were released at Carnegie Hall’s Weil Recital Hall in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 respectively. The Huffington Post described his work as “inspiring” and Bob Stevenson of NPR stated that his music is both “moving and thought provoking.” 

Mr. Jandali is the recipient of the 2014 Global Music Humanitarian Award and in 2015, The Carnegie Corporation of New York honored him as a Great Immigrant. He is a strong advocate for peace and was selected as a Visiting Scholar for the 2017/2018 academic year in the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights at Rutgers University. Mr. Jandali is very passionate about making the arts accessible to all and is the founder and CEO of (www.PianosForPeace.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to building peace through music and education. He embraces young talent from all over the world through the annual Malek Jandali International Youth Piano Competition. Mr. Jandali makes his home in both Manhattan and Atlanta. His music is published exclusively by Soul b Music and his discography is available on iTunes, Amazon and at Virgin Megastores worldwide.

Bassist and composer Omer Avital is one of today’s most striking musicians. Praised by critics as, “extraordinary” (New York Times), “roaringly inventive” (JAZZIZ), “a pioneer in combining jazz with myriad world music elements” (LA Times) and, “one of the most exciting musicians to come onto the jazz scene in the last 20 years” (DownBeat), Omer Avital is a visionary composer and virtuoso musician whose genre-defying ensembles are pushing the boundaries of jazz expression, combining music from his cultural background with modern Western jazz, and providing audiences with swing and spiritual sustenance in equal measure. With his extraordinary vision, Avital can rightly be called one of the most unique musicians of his generation.

Channelled madness – the sound Dawn of Midi spent years shaping, culminating into their most mesmerising work yet

With Dysnomia, the Brooklyn-based group Dawn of Midi abandons improvisation in favour of composition, utilising sophisticated rhythmic structures from North and West African folk traditions to weave a sonic tapestry of trance-inducing grooves. From close up one may see only dots, but when stepping back an undulating image reveals itself. “We didn’t want to create anything cerebral,” says Belyamani, “we wanted something visceral, something that would awaken our instinctive dance impulses.”
Having met at California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles in 2006, bassist Aakaash Israni, pianist Amino Belyamani and drummer Qasim Naqvi found their original rapport through late night tennis matches on the campus court. The chemistry they founded there eventually led them back indoors to improvise together; something they did in total darkness to deprive themselves of all their senses except the crucial one – their hearing.
The manner, by which a trio of solely acoustic instruments ends up sounding like electronic music, has to do with the unconventional ways the group play their instruments on Dysnomia. The record comes to life in the trio’s critically acclaimed live shows, a test of endurance and trust that involves performing their hand-looped acoustic minimalism note for note, just as the compositions were recorded. Dawn of Midi’s sets are as energetic and rhythmic as a seamlessly mixed DJ-set, mesmerising fans in the same way the group’s favourite experimental and electronic acts have for decades.
The album was recorded to 2-inch tape at Waterfront Studios in Hudson, New York - a former church that was purchased and transformed into an analogue recording playground by the great engineer Henry Hirsch. Once the band visited the studio and met Henry, an expert in analogue recording equipped with a vintage Helios console, 16 and 24-track tape machines and a superb collection of microphones, it was obvious they had to record there; it was miles ahead of anywhere else they had visited. Rusty Santos then mixed the album to make sure it would hit as hard as the group’s favourite electronic albums do in spite of it being entirely acoustic.
“We wanted to make a record that sounded both musically futuristic and sonically vintage,” explains Israni, “and since the album never saw a proper international release, it is very exciting to see what might happen when more people are exposed to it. And to be aligned with Erased Tapes, whose enthusiasm for the music they release has done a lot for exposing unique instrumental and electronic music, makes it that much more interesting.”

Dysnomia will be released worldwide on June 1st, 2015 through Erased Tapes – available on 2x LP, CD and Download.

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