MY STORY
Born in Kuwait on June 8 1970, from very artistic parents, Kamal showed unique talents for drawing and playing music from the early age of 3. He started learning guitar at the age of 9 but took it more seriously when he was 17. Kamal was educated as architect and has went through various musical experiences throughout his young age and college times; of which were Arabic bands, Flamenco, Rock and Blues bands. Late 80's to early 90's, he started discovering more of Jazz sounds and got to know Pat Metheny, Miles Davis, George Benson, John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola, among many others. In 1994 he moved to France, where he experienced another true musical atmosphere for four years, attending festivals and concerts in both France and Switzerland. He met artists from all over Europe and the world. There he created a more obvious interest for jazz, and developed his playing style.
In 1997 he moved back for one year in Lebanon to work as architect; during which he met Ziad Rahbani and started to be a part of his ensemble. There he was convinced his real passion was music and nothing but that, and had to make a serious decision about his career, either to be an architect or a musician, and he chose to explore the musical world. That decision demanded a second trip to France to explore more into the core of the music industry. Kamal’s final return to settle in Jordan, led him to establish his own label K&G and to produce his first album ON A JORDAN RIVER’S SIDE, 2003. It was followed by Out Of MY CITY, 2008, LULU, 2009, SONGS FOR SEUNG-EUN, 2011, THE BEST OF KAMAL MUSALLAM, 2012, HOMEMADE IN ROME, 2014, and WORLD PEACE TRIO, 2017. A new collaboration with Billy Cobham, Kai Eckhardt and Gary Husband, among others, is still in production.
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Kamal is settled in Dubai since 2002, active locally and internationally as performer and producer. His main touring bands are Kamal Musallam Trio, Lulu Project, and EastMania. Other collaborations perform occasionally as World Peace Trio, with Gilad atzmon and Dwiki Dharmawan, and Sea Of Strings, with Dominic Miller (longtime STING's right hand), and Jason Carter.
Musallam is currently playing the nylon Silent guitar™ and the newly developed Trans-Acoustic models by YAMAHA, the electric Multi-Oud by GODIN. In 2017, he had developed with IBANEZ his signature guitar models, the electric KMM1 and the nylon fretless KMA1 both released in 2010, and later the high end electric model KMM100 released in 2014, all with a dedicated “quarter tones” playing facility, opening new horizons for guitarists to experiment with additional sounds non existing on standard guitars.
FESTIVALS
2020/ Shandaghah Days, UAE
2019/ Jatiluhur Jazz Festival, Indonesia
2019/ Sarajevo Jazz Festival, Bosnia
2019/ Fête De La Musique, Dubai Opera, UAE
2019/ Sikka Stage, Dubai, UAE
2018/ Fête De La Musique, Dubai Opera, UAE
2017/ Java Jazz Festival, Jakarta, Indonesia
2017/ Vienna Jazz Festival, Austria
2016/ YPO 2016, Dubai
2016/ Mother Of The Nation Festival, Abu Dhabi
2015/ Bali World Music Festival, Indonesia
2015/ Jazz @ Kota Tua, Jakarta, Indonesia
2015/ Frankfurt Museum Festival, Germany
2015/ Sharjah World Music Festival, UAE
2014/ Volvo Ocean Race, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2014/ Sabang Jazz Festival, Aceh, Indonesia
2014/ Asean Jazz Festival, Batam, Indonesia
2013/ Asian Music Festival, Malaysia
2012/ Jeonju International Sori Festival, S. Korea
2012/ du world Music Festival, UAE
2011/ Abu Dhabi International Film Festival, UAE
2011/ Asean Jazz Festival, Batam, Indonesia
2011/ Umbria Jazz festival, Perugia, Italy
2011/ du World Music Festival, UAE
2011/ Java Jazz Festival, Jakarta, Indonesia
2010/ Asian Games, Guangzhou, China
2010/ Monju World Music Festival, Bandung, Indonesia
2010/ Formula I, UAE
2010/ Abu Dhabi International Film Festival, UAE
2010/ Vienna Jazz Festival, Austria
2010/ Cannes Film Festival, France
2009/ Formula I, UAE (opening act)
2009/ Middle-East International Film Festival, UAE
2009/ Jordan Music Festival, Jordan.
2009/ Java Jazz Festival, Jakarta, Indonesia
2008/ Dubai International Film Festival, UAE
2007/ Dubai International Jazz festival, UAE (opening act)
2005/ Abu Dhabi International Jazz Festival, UAE (opening act)
2005/ Dubai International Jazz Festival, UAE
2005/ Masqat International Jazz Festival, Oman
2004/ Dubai International Film Festival, UAE
2003/ Abu Dhabi International Jazz Festival, UAE (Opening act)
2000/ Jerash Festival, Jordan
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