Classical Indian Music meets Jazz in a brand new collaboration in Liverpool this February.
The collaboration between jazz pianist and composer Zoe Rahman, her brother, Idris Rahman on clarinet, and British Bengali vocalist Sohini Alam will mark a unique collaboration between Milap and the Liverpool International Jazz Festival (LIJF).
Alongside new arrangements by acclaimed composers Nazrul and Tagore, the musicians will also be performing music from Zoe’s Where Rivers Meet album, described in The Sunday Times as “a wholly original brand of Anglo-Asian music”.
A MOBO Award winner, Mercury Prize nominee and British Jazz Award winner, Zoe has established herself as a unique presence in the British music industry.
A vibrant and highly individual pianist and composer, Zoe’s style is deeply rooted in jazz whilst reflecting her classical background, her British/Bengali heritage and her very broad musical taste. Known for her powerful technique, wide-ranging imagination and exuberant performance, she has become a highly sought-after musician, working most recently with the likes of George Mraz, Courtney Pine and Jerry Dammers’ Spatial AKA Orchestra.
Her brother, Idris Rahman, is a London-based saxophonist, clarinettist, singer, bass-player, composer and producer, who has co-led the band Soothsayers for nearly two decades, co-writing and producing their nine critically acclaimed albums.
Idris has performed and recorded with a whole range of artists including Anoushka Shankar, Arun Ghosh, Julia Biel, Osibisa, Ayub Ogada, Oriole, and Dodgy. His band Wildflower’s first album was nominated in Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide Awards for Jazz Album of the Year 2018.
They are joined at the festival by Sohini Alam, a British Bangladeshi vocalist whose musical repertoire includes folk, modern and traditional Bengali songs with a specialisation in Nazrul Sangeet.
A third generation vocalist, Sohini trained in music with her mother, Hiron Alam and her aunts, renowned Nazrul singers Jannat Ara and Ferdous Ara. She is lead vocalist for the band Khiyo and for Kishon Khan’s Afro-Cuban-Bengali jazz band Lokkhi Terra and is a co-founder of arts company Komola Collective and has been acclaimed for her work with Tara Arts.
Established in 2013 by Liverpool Hope University, the 9th edition of the Liverpool International Jazz Festival will take place from 24th – 27th February 2022 and will feature an exciting and diverse line up of world class artists. The full schedule can be viewed here.
The Milap concert takes place on 26th February 2022 at The Capstone Theatre in Liverpool. Tickets can be bought from the theatre website here.
