Mazen Kerbaj (born Beirut, 1975) is a Lebanese

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and

free improvisation Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician(s) involved. The term can refer to both a technique (employed by any musician in any genre) and as a recognizable genre in its ...

trumpeter and

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

artist.

Early life and education

Kerbaj grew up in Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War, and began playing

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians duri ...

in local clubs following the reestablishment of cultural life in the 1990s.

Career

Kerbaj s first public performances took place in 2000. He started his own record label, and toured internationally, playing with musicians such as

Michael Zerang Michael Zerang (born November 16, 1958) is an American jazz percussionist and drummer. Career Zerang's parents both emigrated to the United States from the Middle East; his father is Iranian and his mother Iraqi.Mats Gustafsson Mats Olof Gustafsson (born 29 October 1964) is a Swedish free jazz saxophone player. Career Gustafsson came to the attention of lovers of improvised music as part of a duo with Christian Munthe (started in 1986), as member of Gunter Chri ...

, Guillermo Gregorio, and

Fred Lonberg-Holm Fred Lonberg-Holm (born 1 October 1962) is an American cellist based in Chicago. He moved from New York City to Chicago in 1995. Lonberg-Holm is most identified with playing free improvisation and free jazz. He is also a composer of concert work ...

in Europe and the United States. He also issued his own comics in the 2000s, which are published on a blog. In July 2006, he recorded himself playing live during the 2006 Lebanon War with the sounds of bombs exploding and car sirens wailing.The playlist: Middle East and North Africa – Hafida and Mazen Kerbaj
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', January 14, 2015.

Personal life

In 2015, he became artist-in-residence at the

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

collective DAAD.

Discography

* ''A'' with Sharif Sehnaoui & Raed Yassine cd-thèque, 2003) * ''Abu Tarek'' with Franz Hautzinger (Creative Sources, 2004) * ''Rouba3i5'' with Christine Sehnaoui, Sharif Sehnaoui &

Ingar Zach Ingar Zach (born 29 June 1971 in Oslo, Norway) is a Norwegian percussionist and businessman, known from several recordings. Career In the 1990s Zach played within Chateau Neuf Spelemannslag and 'Harnihomba', while studying music at the Univer ...

(Al Maslakh, 2005) * ''Brt Vrt Zrt Krt'' (Al Maslakh, 2005) * ''3:1'' with Birgit Ulher, Sharif Sehnaou (Creative Sources, 2008) * ''Blue Rain'' with Ernesto Rodrigues, Guilherme Rodrigues, Carlos Santos (Creative Sources, 2014) * ''Ariha Brass Quartet'' with

Axel Dörner Axel Dörner (born 26 April 1964 in Cologne, Germany) is a German trumpeter, pianist, and composer. Biography Dörner studied piano in the Dutch town Arnhem (1988–89) and at the Music Academy in Cologne (1989–1996). From 1991 he studied t ...

, Franz Hautzinger, Carl Ludwig Hübsch (Al Maslakh, 2015) * ''Funkhaus'' with Mike Bullock, Andrew Lafkas (Fine Noise & Light, 2017) * ''East of Where?'' with Toshimaru Nakamura (Ftarri, 2017) * ''Sawt Out'' with Burkhard Beins, Michael Vorfeld (2018)

Bibliography

* Mazen Kerbaj: ''Beyrouth, juillet–août 2006''. L’Association BD * Mazen Kerbaj, Lenia Major: ''Suffit la bagarre!'' Edition Samir, 2012 * Mazen Kerbaj: ''Lettre à la mère'' (Arbeitstitel ''Plus jamais''). Ed. Apocalypse, 2013

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerbaj, Mazen Lebanese musicians Jazz trumpeters 1975 births Living people