Jon Hassell & Maarifa Street
With Special Guest Dhafer Youssef


In association with dublab.com

Jon Hassell and Maarifa StreetDescribed by many as the most innovative and important composer alive, Memphis-born jazz trumpeter Jon Hassell has transcended the inherent limitations of his instrument to use it “as flexibly, as expressively and as intimately as a great singer uses his voice … (creating) vivid landscapes that seem to palpitate with a life of their own” [The New York Times]. The visionary creator of a style dubbed “Fourth World” – an ethereal, magical realistic fusion of ancient and digital, composed and improvised, and Eastern and Western – Hassell has had a profound impact on contemporary music, inspiring a generation of collaborators and admirers from Brain Eno and the Kronos Quartet to Ry Cooder and Björk. This enigmatic artist will be joined by his band Maarifa Street in an otherwordly alchemy of global fusions stretched across time and space. The evening features Tunisian vocalist and oud player Dhafer Youssef, whose soaring voice and jazzy sound—rooted in Sufi laments, world traditions, and Arabic lyricism—envision a bewitching musical future.

Dhaffer YoussefDhafer Youssef (born 1967 in Teboulba, Tunisia) is a composer, vocalist, and oud player. He has been living and working in various European countries since 1990. During this time he had the opportunity to perform his music on stages in Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland, the UK and other countries as well as his native Tunisia (where he started singing in the Islamic tradition at age 5).

Dhafer Youssef's music is rooted in the Sufi tradition and other mystical music but has always been wide open to ideas from any other musical culture as well as the jazz scene. With his poetic approach on the oud (the Arabic lute), his complex Arab-colored compositions and especially his deeply affecting singing when humming along with his melodies, Dhafer Youssef is one of the most impressive voices to emerge in this musical field in many years. Testifying a wide range of sound colors, stylistic facets and musical ingredients, his 1999 ENJA release "Malak" (ENJ-9367 2) is a thrilling statement incorporating Arabic lyricism, rhythmic power, visionary strength, multi-cultural influences and jazz-oriented improvisation. Dhafer Youssef opens the way to a new definition of East-Western crossover.

Dhafer Youssef also works in avant-garde and world music where he's been nominated for awards. He has released four albums of his own and also did notable work with Paolo Fresu. He indicates an affinity for the Music of India and Nordic music. He was a guest artist on the Norwegian jazz artist Bugge Wesseltoft's album FiLM iNG.

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