JAZZIZ Travel #30: Miriam Elhajli (PODCAST)


JAZZIZ Travel is a new podcast series hosted by JAZZIZ online editor Matt Micucci that explores jazz and creative music in all four corners of the globe. In this series, you will hear conversations with artists and people talking about the significance of jazz as an art form, the influence of folk music traditions of different cultures and backgrounds, or simply sharing their thoughts, ideas and insight on their multicultural projects.

Miriam Elhajli is a New York-based composer/improviser/folklorist whose work is influenced by the rich musical tradition of her Venezuelan, Moroccan and North American heritage. Her anticipated second album, The Uncertainty of Signs, features a wide cast of players performing on instruments of various cultures and traditions. The record will be released on February 22 via Numina and finds her searching for the metaphysics of song, exploring the surreal and the symbolic.

“This record is my llanto,” explains Elhajli via a press release, “my call out to the heavens. The music emerges from a deep longing for a promised return home, to a distant memory that is only communed with when in the flight of song – must those who live in exile belong solely to the spheres?”

Listen to our JAZZIZ Travel conversation with Miriam Elhajli via the player below. The Uncertainty of Signs will be released on February 22 via Numina Records. Elhajli will be performing with the full band at Joe’s Pub on February 15. Tickets here.

Featured photo by Elizabeth Maney.

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