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Najaal. Finding our "Common Place" (Lugar Común)

Najaal comes out of the studio with a triple album of improvised music. Three different energies. One common place.

Najaal

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Najaal. Finding our “Common Place”.

For the first time after more than three years of experience, Najaal dives into the studio to record an album (of course 100% improvised) facing new challenges: Their two best friends, the listener and the context, are not present.

The goal of this campaign is not only to pay for the recording and editing process, but to show this trio to the world hoping to share more improvised music in the live format, which is our favorite. All of it through a little piece, a taste, of the sound of Najaal.

You can find more information about us in our website.

Quick shower during recording session
Quick shower during recording session

Who are we?

Najaal is a trio of improvised music that wants to take this “form” of music to different stages, recording sessions and selected locations. We are only three persons with our instruments. Everything else we find it in the place we get to. Improvising is something natural, ordinary, but we believe that with the appropriate attention it has the power of transforming the life of those who practice it.

Najaal means exploring beauty and communication within a continuous present moment. It also means exposing yourself to doubt and error… and this way we show our philosophy: Life is about risk, through attention and detachment, but it is also just playing.

The music we play is free from previous structures or agreements, but it’s not about incoherent noise or the constant search for change and dissonance. It’s more about a mixture between an intimate conversation and a collective journey. Hand in hand with the listener we create that space in which music can be felt as something personal, simple and familiar, and at the same time as something mystical.

This compromise generates a link with the audience, who becomes a partner and part of the creative process. This way we invite everyone to experiment a different reality of what “artistic expression” may be. It’s a contagious act of freedom and responsibility.

Nabil, Javier and Alejandro
Nabil, Javier and Alejandro

Najaal is:

  • Nabil Naïr – Piano, clarinet, ney.

  • Javier Pérez – Drums, percussion, voice.

  • Alejandro de Antonio – Double bass, viola de gamba, rebab.

As a trio we have been playing and exploring together since 2018.

Starting of as a standard jazz trio (Piano, double bass, drums) we wanted to engage with other instruments, and sometimes we incorporate other disciplines, like poetry and dance as well. Our work is based on closed gatherings in which we experiment with improvisation in many ways. Also, we’ve performed in various intimate spaces and in some larger ones like the opening of the WIM 2019 festival (Frías, Spain).

Openness, exploration and inclusion are great pillars in Najaal, and so we look for and enjoy crafting collaborations with other artists. Just to name a few: Playing at a beautiful carpentry in Bilbao we invited the txalapartari Argibel Euba who improvised his instrument out of the pieces of wood he found there, and the painter Irene de Madrazo who transformed her brush strokes into acoustic signals that became part of the sound ambience; playing at Contact Improvisation sessions, where movement and music inspire each other constantly, melting the line that distinguish them... Some of the artists we’ve performed with are: Steve Schofield (saxophone), Paloma Arteaga (voice), Javier Vázquez (winds) and Izaskun Lapaza (dance).

On an individual level our relationship with music goes a long way back. We all have different studies and experiences on music, from classical conservatory to free improvisation ensembles (with Thimios Atzakas, Chefa Alonso…). Also, we’ve been part of rock and funk bands and have studied jazz (with Bob Sands, Carlos Carli…) and modal music from eastern Mediterranean (Labyrinth Musical Workshop).

The album

The experience at the studio, guided by the sound engineer Román Ledesma in a little village in Segovia, was so productive that it forced us to change the structure and size of the whole project. And so, it became this triple album in which we explore different energies:

  • I. ”Un buen comienzo”, the first chapter, expounds a palette of suggesting images, textures and film ambiences.

  • II. ”Procesos y entrañas” dives into the emotional labyrinths allowing them to evolve and take the listener (and the musician) by surprise.

  • III. ”It’s alright after all” closes the trilogy with more energetic and rhythmical improvisations, jazz flavours and genre-less dances.

In this way, Najaal creates a little “context” or bridge to find the listener, enabling the possibility to choose the energy in which they want to dive but always maintaining that link to the “Lugar Común”.

Rewards

We thank your support and want to take the opportunity to demonstrate that to you. We have a whole set of creative rewards, from a digital cd to a hand made instrument, built by Alejandro, for you to choose that which accommodates best to your pocket and your wishes.

We've decided to go for a limited edition of the CD, to keep the tradition but cutting on plastics ;)

Also we've added more bizzare suggestions for you to enjoy our most unique caracteristics with your donation.

If you have any issues or doubts regarding rewards, please contact us ([email protected]).

The destination of your money

Your money will be used exclusively to pay the costs of the album. 65% of the amount will be spent in the mixing and mastering of the whole trilogy (2400€), 16% of it goes to video material (600€) and the rest to the physical production of the limited-edition CD (700€).

If we reach the minimum amount any extra money raised will be used for secondary expenses of the production (like paying something to the musicians! =P ) and to enhance the quality of it.

For the audiovisual aspects of this recording process, we thank the presence and work of two external persons:

  • Román Ledesma: Sound recording and editing, mixing and mastering.

  • Paula Pérez-Cossío: Video recording and editing.

    Román Ledesma in the mixing room
    Román Ledesma in the mixing room

Calendar

The recording process has already been completed.

Waiting for the mix and master of such a large project, as well as the artistic design of the physical CD, we expect to have it ready by March 2022. For such an occasion we will organize a big concert in Madrid in which we can give in hand as many rewards as possible and thank all contributions.

+ info

For more information you can visit:

Our website
Facebook

You can contact us in: [email protected]

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10 comments

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  • Á/CG

    Á/CG

    about 2 years

    Abrazos! Disfrutad, que seguro que saldrán discazos.

  • Familia Recamán Graña

    Familia Recamán Graña

    over 2 years

    ¡Mucha energía de nuestra parte!

  • Isabel RB

    Isabel RB

    over 2 years

    ,Ganas de disfrutar vuestra música

  • Cristina Membrive

    Cristina Membrive

    over 2 years

    Muchos éxitos!!!

  • Lorena Matsuki

    Lorena Matsuki

    over 2 years

    Deseando escucharos 😘

  • Paloma Lázaro Arteaga

    Paloma Lázaro Arteaga

    over 2 years

    Bellas criaturas ! esto va a ser preciosisimo

  • VioletaSavior

    VioletaSavior

    over 2 years

    ¡Qué ilusión ver cómo camina este proyecto tan bonito! Y qué ganas de escucharos otra vez en directo :)

  • Alber Garcia

    Alber Garcia

    over 2 years

    Hay tanta energía en este proyecto! 😘😘😘

  • Rocio Gordillo

    Rocio Gordillo

    over 2 years

    ¡Regalazo para nuestros oídos! ¡Qué maravilla! Gracias hermosos seres del universo!

  • Feher Masawa

    Feher Masawa

    over 2 years

    Que maravilla que bieeeeeeen!!

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