Faris Ishaq + BEJE in concert

An electrifying fusion of contemporary jazz with the music of the nay, the ancient flute whose history goes back 4,500 years to ancient Egypt and Sumeria…

You can hear a rough mix of Faris Ishaq and BEJE in concert together in 2024 here. They are currently recording an album and this gig will follow five days in the studio together.
Faris Ishaq was born in Bethlehem. Mostly self-taught as a musician and composer, he quickly gained recognition for his inventive, crosscultural artistry. He is a nay master and also a percussionist.

In 2018, he won a scholarship to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston, the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world, where he received the ‘best student award’ for his innovative work blending Arabic music with jazz. In 2021, he was awarded a ‘global talent visa’ to the United Kingdom, endorsed by Arts Council England.

He has performed at both the London and the Monterey Jazz Festivals, and collaborated with the multi-Grammy-winning jazz bassist John Patitucci on the single ‘Supplication’. His new solo album, Jasad, follows Tripolarity (2019), Nature Addresses You (2021) and Kham (2023). His concerto ‘A Wildscape’ received its premiere with the St Paul’s Sinfonia in Southwark Cathedral in 2024.

You can sample Faris’s solo work here.

this evening will consist of David Mowat (trumpet and band leader), Knud Stüwe (oud), Timothy Funnell (piano), Andy Hamil (double bass, standing in for Federico Leonori, pictured above) and Paolo Adamo (drums).

‘Music can be a form of prayer. It can console, witness, and connect when the world feels fractured,’ said UK Jazz News recently. ‘For BEJE, this is more than a philosophy, it is the essence of the music they make … music shaped by reflection, solidarity, and lived experience.’

BEJE have released two albums: Live at the Fringe (2014) and BEJE Bites (2015).
Photo credit: Duncan Cruikshank. The pictures at the top of the page were taken by Fadi Dahabreh.

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