Naïssam Jalal – ‘Souffles’

I first encountered French-Syrian flautist and composer Naïssam Jalal via her 2023 album Healing Rituals, a heady mélange of Arabic and chamber jazz influences with a smattering of syncopated hip-hop breakbeats. Initially struck by its similarities to the music of Magic Malik, Jalal’s music is nevertheless freer and not so tightly bound by rhythmic and harmonic schematics. I also detected an underlying spirituality that connects Jalal’s music to the early modal experiments of Coltrane and the mysticism of Yusef Lateef and Don Cherry, something which became even more apparent when I began to explore her back catalogue.

Souffles (“Breaths”) is Jalal’s tenth album as a leader, a milestone she has chosen to mark in typically adventurous fashion. Recorded in Montreuil between November 2021 and January 2025, the album is a series of intimate and very conversational duets with eight stellar wind players. Jalal’s aims for the project were twofold – firstly she wanted to write pieces with each musician’s distinctive persona in mind, and secondly she hoped to find common-musical ground with her guests.

The opening “Souffle #5” with Thomas de Pourquery (alto saxophone) runs the gamut of timbral extremes, the two players matching one another’s moves as they establish the melody before soaring to the outer edges of the upper register. The vertical and horizontal gridlines of Jalal’s composition are exposed in plain view, yet nothing feels forced or unnatural. The melancholic “Souffle #3” features clarinetist Yom, Jalal extemporising with her typically heartfelt wordless vocals. “Souffle #4” sees Sylvan Rifflet (tenor saxophone) playing an impassioned solo before providing rhythmic and harmonic counterpoint to Jalal, while on the more reflective “Souffle #7” chamber-jazz master Louis Sclavis (bass clarinet) wrings every last drop of emotion from the melody in a typically free-spirited solo.

It would be easy to imagine “Souffle #6” with Irving Acao (soprano saxophone) played by a larger ensemble, perhaps even Magic Malik’s, while on “Souffle #8” Jalal is joined by the only non-reed playing guest of the set, trombonist Robinson Khoury. Khoury’s solo projects typically explore similar Middle Eastern crossover terrain, and he’s perfectly at home in this milieu. Émile Parisien (soprano saxophone) shares space with Jalal on ‘Souffle #9’, and for me it’s the most moving piece of the set, his intricate lines cutting through with a directness I find impossible to ignore. Closing with perhaps the biggest draw of all, on “Souffle #1” we hear from the inimitable Archie Shepp (tenor saxophone, voice). The veteran is instantly recognisable from the very first bar, and the piece simply oozes gritty blue emotions.

Above all Souffles is a celebration of human connection, and as its title subtly reminds us these conversations are ultimately born from creative ingenuity and human breath. With potential to become something of a long-running series, if there is ever a second volume I’ll be amongst the first in the queue.

Release date 30 May 2025

from https://ukjazznews.com