Maydan Ensemble is a quartet that brings a unique fusion of contemporary jazz and traditional music from the Middle East — Arabic, Anatolian and Persian. The ensemble was created within the North London Jazz Collective, as a result of conversation and collaboration between musicians linked by a deep interest in the folk and classical traditions of this region. The initial concerts were held at Palestine House in central London, as part of humanitarian events to help the Palestinian people — as an expression of the jazz community's solidarity with those suffering from colonization, ethnic cleansing and genocide. Today, this ensemble performs across London and beyond — both at events in support of Palestine and on the most prestigious jazz and music stages throughout the United Kingdom.
The line-up consists of internationally recognized musicians from the very top of the London jazz scene: rising Egyptian singer Amena El Abd , renowned Irish-Iranian guitarist Kourosh Kanani , one of the most prominent Iranian folk
musicians in London Parham Bahadoran (zurna, duduk and other wind instruments), Italian-English double bass player Lorenzo Morabito, sought-after collaborator on stage (Giacomo Smith, Peter Horsfall, Mark Kavuma...), as well as London drummer Robbie Ellison (Steve Fishwick, Frank Basile, Sara Dowling, Eric Alexander...).
Maydan explores the meeting of jazz and Middle Eastern musical traditions from two directions: on the one hand, through the reinterpretation of jazz compositions inspired by the musical heritage of West Asia, and on the other through his own arrangements of folk songs from the Arabic, Anatolian and Persian speaking areas, shaped in the spirit of jazz.
The name "Maydan" means square, public space, gathering place — a word of Farsi origin, also present in Arabic, Turkish, Urdu, Kurdish, Georgian and Persian languages.
By choosing this name, the ensemble points to the fact that different musical traditions draw strength from common life and social practice, while at the same time affirming the political and social power of music as a collective and subversive act.