Biography
Pianist Tarek Yamani taught himself jazz at the age of 19, and since that time, he has dedicated himself to exploring relationships between African American jazz and classical Arabic music. These relationships are most evident in his newly released album, Peninsular (2017), which fuses jazz with quarter tones and the rhythms of the Arabian Peninsula, and his second album, Lisan Al Tarab: Jazz Conceptions in Classical Arabic (2014).
Yamani has taken part in three editions of the official International Jazz Day All-Star Global Concerts (Melbourne, 2019; Havana, 2017; New York, 2012) and performed at venues such as Hamer Hall, Melbourne (2019); Aaron Davis Hall, New York (2019); National Sawdust, New York (2018); Atrium at Lincoln Center, New York (2018); Pierre Boulez Saal, Berlin (2018); Gran Teatro de la Habana, Havana (2017); Kings Place, London (2017); Museum of the Civilisations of Europe and the Mediterranean (MuCEM), Marseille (2015); Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC (2014) and United Nations General Assembly Hall, New York (2012).
He has composed musical scores for films shown in more than 100 international festivals and on television networks such as AMC, BBC and Sundance TV. He has also self-published two books about rhythm: The Percussion Ensemble of the Arabian Peninsula (2017) and Duple vs Triple: A Melodic Approach to Mastering Polyrhythms in Jazz and Other Groove-Based Music in 56 Steps (2014).
Among his awards are the Abu Dhabi Festival Composers’ Platform Award (2016); Thelonious Monk Jazz Composers Competition Award (2010), Prins Bernhard Culture Prize (2009) and Huygens Scholarship (2006). He also participated in the Baryshnikov Art Center Artist Residency, New York (2018).
Yamani holds a BS in Computer Science from the American University of Beirut (2001) and a BA in Jazz Piano from the Prins Claus Conservatory of Groningen, The Netherlands (2009).
Born in 1980 In Beirut, he currently lives and works in New York.
SAF participation:
Jazz Tactics and Essentials of Improvisation (2019)
The Afro-Tarab Pairings Project (2019)
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Tarek Yamani: The Afro-Tarab Pairings Project
Composer and musician Tarek Yamani will perform The Afro-Tarab Pairings Project, a solo piano performance in which each tarab/Arabic-influenced piece is paired with an African American/jazz-influenced piece.