海角大神

It鈥檚 almost unheard of for a modern-day trumpet player to break out from the niche world of jazz clubs. But Ibrahim Maalouf, who fills arenas in France and attracts sizable audiences worldwide, doesn鈥檛 make music that sounds like that of a typical trumpeter.

His custom-made instrument has a fourth valve, rather than the traditional three, so he can play quarter tones 鈥� the notes between notes. Mr. Maalouf, who was born in Lebanon and raised in France, credits his dad for inventing the microtonal trumpet.聽

鈥淔or me, quarter tones are in all music, from blues to Negro spirituals to Indian music to folkloric Gypsy music,鈥� says Mr. Maalouf in a Zoom interview. 鈥淭he reason why my father created this trumpet was to play the Arabic quarter tones, the Arabic scales. But a good musician could use it for any kind of music.鈥�

On Feb. 5, Mr. Maalouf will be attending the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. He and Beninese American songwriter Ang茅lique Kidjo are best global music album nominees for their collaboration, 鈥淨ueen of Sheba.鈥� Mr. Maalouf鈥檚 other 2022 release, the hip-hop influenced 鈥淐apacity To Love,鈥� features guests such as De La Soul and rapper D Smoke. The two albums showcase his stylistic breadth. He is guided by a musical philosophy: If his compositions help people see beyond musical boxes, maybe they鈥檒l see past other divisive labels, too.

鈥淗e鈥檚 really open-minded,鈥� says Norwegian trumpet player Nils Petter Molv忙r, a pioneer of fusing jazz and electronic music, in a Zoom interview. 鈥淗e doesn鈥檛 care very much about genres.鈥�

Mr. Maalouf grew up listening to the Arabic and classical music of his father鈥檚 trumpet and his mother鈥檚 piano. One day, when he was a boy, his mother came home with a vinyl single of Michael Jackson鈥檚 鈥淪mooth Criminal鈥� that she鈥檇 won in a supermarket competition.聽

鈥淚 played it, and suddenly my body started to move and I started to dance,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 had never heard something like this before.鈥�

Smitten by pop music, he took up the synthesizer, once waking his mother at 3 a.m. with his playing. But his main focus was studying trumpet. It was a way to bond with his strict father. Mr. Maalouf won classical music competitions and studied at a well-known Paris conservatory. 鈥淎ll this was because my father wanted me to be the best trumpeter, not because I wanted it,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 said, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 over. I鈥檓 done. Bye-bye. My trumpet is out of my life.鈥欌��

He briefly dallied with the idea of becoming an architect. But a burgeoning desire to score movie soundtracks inspired Mr. Maalouf to retrieve the instrument from its box. He was filled with new gratitude that his parents had always encouraged him to compose music. The musician resolved that, this time, he wouldn鈥檛 try to impress others with virtuosity. Even so, it took him years to develop a more soulful way of playing. Onstage, his happy eyes now gleam as much as his trumpet.聽

鈥淗e has enormous dynamics in his playing, from the very, very, very soft to pretty hardcore,鈥� says Mr. Molv忙r, who has performed with Mr. Maalouf. 鈥淗e has his very own voice. You can say, 鈥楢h, that鈥檚 Ibrahim.鈥� Sometimes his trumpet sounds like a different instrument, like a flute or something from the Middle East.鈥�

In 2015, Mr. Maalouf utilized that ability on an album of songs by Oum Kalthoum, Egypt鈥檚 iconic singer from the early 20th century. When he performed 鈥淜althoum鈥� at Lincoln Center in New York, it was ostensibly a jazz concert. But after an Egyptian in the audience started singing along in his first language, Mr. Maalouf explained to attendees that what they鈥檇 been listening to was a traditional Arabic melody.聽

鈥淭here were people [saying], 鈥榃ait, what?鈥欌�� he recalls. 鈥淲hat I like is when you prove to all the people who are listening that we actually all share exactly the same melodies. We just dress them differently.鈥�

Soon after, Mr. Maalouf teamed up with Ms. Kidjo for a conceptual suite about King Solomon meeting the Queen of Sheba. It was challenging to write music for words in the Yoruba language. Once the trumpet player latched on to the rhythms in the singer鈥檚 phrasing, it opened a portal between African and Middle Eastern modalities.聽

鈥淚t sounds like a real mix, not a superimposition of things,鈥� he says.聽

The artist鈥檚 15th album, 鈥淐apacity To Love,鈥� opens with Charlie Chaplin鈥檚 monologue from 鈥淭he Great Dictator,鈥� a film that mocked Adolf Hitler, in which the character calls for unity and a recognition of universal brotherhood. 鈥淲hen I see what鈥檚 happening everywhere in Europe, the far right, extreme right getting more popularity, it makes me wonder if people really learn from past mistakes,鈥� says Mr. Maalouf. 鈥淪uddenly, I had this speech by Charlie Chaplin in my head.鈥�

Mr. Maalouf says that people too often judge others by their skin color, the way they鈥檙e dressed, or their religious beliefs. But he believes there鈥檚 a lesson in the way that 鈥淐apacity To Love鈥� finds common ground between hip-hop, New Orleans R&B, Romani music, and 1970s jazz fusion.

鈥淚f you are able to discover what is behind the external aspect, that means you understand philosophically what this music is about,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat means we belong to the same world. And we can think about a better future, all together.鈥澛�