Ibrahim Maalouf - Wind (2012)

Wind is the fourth album by French-Lebanese trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf, and came to my attention when release reviews compared it to Miles Davis' Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud soundtrack.  That cool noirish atmosphere is present and correct, but far from pastiche Maalouf creates a highly original tribute to modal-era Miles.  Most interesting is his use of a quarter-tone trumpet, allowing for the microtonal scales of his Middle Eastern heritage.

Over the hour-long Wind, originally conceived as a soundtrack to the 1927 silent film La Proie Du Vent, there's a good mix of uptempo tracks alongside the expected cool slowburners.  My favourite thing here is one of the latter - Surprises, with its great hook played by German pianist Frank Woeste.  The other band members are all Americans (the album was also recorded in NYC), with Larry Grenadier on bass, Clarence Penn on drums and Mark Turner on sax.  Perfect for blustery days.

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