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Doors 2.30pm, Music 3pm
This event has unreserved seating.
JASAD جَسَد (Arabic for “Body”) is the new album by Palestinian Nay virtuoso and percussionist Faris Ishaq, a breath-driven manifesto reimagining the Nay — a Middle Eastern flute with a 5,000-year history — as a contemporary, self-sustained acoustic landscape.
Performing the Nay alongside a leg-mounted frame drum, the JASAD setup was born from the Nay’s raw intensity. Made of reed cane, with no mouthpiece or mechanics, it responds solely to the player’s breath and intention, a quality celebrated in JASAD as living technology. Faris creates an array of breath-led extended techniques and intricate rhythms, trading electronic effects for acoustic illusions, woven live with his soulful lyricism into an immersive, multi-layered acoustic solo.
Steeped from a young age in Dabke dance, he blends its earthy footwork with the rhythmic improvisational Nay tradition of Tashbib, shaping a synergy of Palestinian breath and culture. Infused with global jazz sensibilities, his original compositions move seamlessly between rich Arabic Maqam modalities and fierce, Coltrane-inspired arrangements, igniting an evolving dialogue between Tashbib and jazz.
JASAD rekindles the quiet dialogue between breath, body, and our surrounding living landscape in an increasingly digitised world. By weaving cultural memory with contemporary expression, it celebrates the Nay as a living artefact — rooted, evolving, and present.
For this EFG London Jazz Festival performance Faris Ishaq will be premiering the new trio format of Jasad.
Stone Nest is an arts organisation and performance venue in the heart of London's West End, bringing exceptional and experimental art to a wide audience. A hidden gem nestled amidst the bright lights of theatreland, it offers a platform for bold, visionary artists and a space where audiences can encounter an eclectic programme of contemporary performance.
*Stone Nest is an old building and unfortunately cannot currently accommodate electric wheelchairs. We can accommodate manually operated wheelchairs at ground floor level via a temporary ramp; please email info@stonenest.org if you require this and we can book a Companion ticket for you.