L’Hijâz Car  sounds raw, energetic and contemporary. The French five-piece has a unique line-up with ud (Arabic lute), tarhu (a variation on the violin), bass clarinet, double bass and percussion. Their music is as unique and innovative, with Mediterranean and Arabic timbres, structures from modern classical music, and the freedom and swing of jazz and improv. L’Hijâz Car shows how seemingly different cultures can co-exist to create a new kind of beauty.

L’Hijâz Car was founded in 2001 by ud player Gregory Dargent. The band has collaborated with the Tuareg choir Lalla Tahra from Tamanrasset. 2008 saw the release of their album Cavaliers de l’Aurès, a collaboration with Algerian diva Houria Aïchi. Their most recent instrumental album under their own name was recorded in Paris. The eponymous album achieved great acclaim in the press: ‘Globalisation expressed in sound… They seamlessly blend global folk with jazz canon signatures and overtures that owe a great debt to the classical tradition’ (fRoots).

Gregory Dargent ud, Nicolas Beck tahru, Jean-Louis Marchand bass clarinet, Jonathan Sell double bass, Wassim Halal percussions