Written by Justin Hamilton Salem, on 09-11-2008 12:07

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Nabil Khoury lives life via improvisation. He tries never to plan anything, always moving on the whim of his gut.

Jazz is a way of life and this instrument is just a way to express it; but to be able to express yourself to have to be in harmony. And this harmony is not easy to get... For the past twelve years Nabil has struggled for his harmony. Growing up in Lebanon, he made his living as a DJ and playing around with a few jazz groups in Beirut.

"But the jazz scene in Beirut is sh*t. I mean all you have are about eight guys that can really play. And what they do is, is just rotate around and start a few different bands under different names. But it's all really the same."

So the stagnation finally seeped in and he left to study the bass. Moving from Paris to Sydney and ending up in Prague; he has gone and will go anywhere that will help fill his thirst to master the bass.

"Life is a school, but I don't know why I chose Prague. I just felt like something is here for me ... it really fuels my creativity. The jazz scene here is young, but that I think is very good. In a few years this city scene will be quite good ... but I wouldn't really call this place a city. It's not even a town. Prague is just a big village."

During the interview, while looming over a stove cutting, mixing and stirring up his lunch, he turns and smiles: "You know jazz is a lot like cooking. You just take different flavors and taste and then mix them all together and see how it comes out ... that's why all the old jazz musicians call when you sit down and play a cooking session."

So he goes continues cooking, mixing the time spent waiting on the food to tender by walking over to his bass and taking out a few notes. Practicing at least around eight hours a day, it's that hand-in-hand determination that sort of makes you lean in a bit closer when he opens his mouth.

"John Coltrane gave us something. He will never die. Those that gave the world something will never die. Whether it's Jesus or Napoleon or whomever, they will never die because they live in the people. If I am alive in people, I ... that is my dream: to be alive in people."

Catching Nabil play might be a bit hard to do since he's still new to the scene. Since coming in November, Nabil has been found either picking the bass at parties for the sake of sheer ambiance, or being a DJ spinning latin tunes at Ultramarin. He assured me he wont be going anywhere soon and I can assure you that if your tapped into the vein that is the jazz scene here, you'll starting hearing more about Nabil in the future.

Last update: 09-11-2008 12:11

Published in : Profiles, Musician

Keywords : Nabil Khoury, jazz, jazz bassist

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