Hiwar means dialogue in Arabic – and as the title of Aleph Quintet’s second album, it’s well chosen. The Tunisian-Belgian band holds a conversation between modern jazz and North African music, with oud and violin in the leading roles.
The Brussels-based quintet made their album debut with the critically acclaimed Shapes of Silence in 2023. The follow-up, Hiwar, has been praised by both European and American press: a CHOC award from Jazz Magazine, named Coup de cœur by Paris-Move, and voted Best Foreign Group of the Year by Jazz News and Jazz Magazine.
Akram Ben Romdhane plays oud and brings a Tunisian musical heritage to the table. Marvin Burlas’s violin moves as freely through jazz spaces as through North African scales. Wajdi Riahi’s piano flows through it all like a common thread. It’s a luminous fusion of European chamber jazz with Sufi music, Arabic scales and Gnawa rhythms – and, to borrow the album title, a dialogue between musical worlds as much as between the modern and the traditional.
LINEUP
Akram Ben Romdhane – oud
Marvin Burlas – violin
Wajdi Riahi – piano
Théo Zipper – bass
Diogo Alexandre – drums
