"A Rising Star"
- BBC Music Magazine
“… A beguiling debut that intertwines bright and beautiful strands… gorgeous, wine-dark swirls.”
- NPR Music, Top 10 album releases
“A Gorgeously Kinetic, Restless New Album by Haunting, Dynamic Violinist Layale Chaker…the leading contender for best album of 2019 so far.”
- New York Music Daily
“ Haunting yet quietly rigorous… Often there seems to be more breath than voice in these wordless poems, though other times Ms. Chaker draws full-bellied sounds, or sketches out silvery arpeggios.”
- The New York Times
“Chaker, for her part, plays as one might sing, exhaling through every note with lyrical assurance. Despite the formidable control with which it's rendered, the music wraps its flesh around a fiercely driven nervous system.”
- RootsWorld
“Potent spell cast… particularly entrancing.”
-Textura
“A gorgeous blend of sounds … accomplished with grace and agility.”
- In on the Corner
“… The fine string performances, by Chaker especially, stand out.”
- The Strad
“Organic, dynamic, and complex. However, the complexity doesn't take center-stage; like a good piece of writing, you are lulled into it with elegant phrasing, immaculate punctuation and exquisite vocabulary.”
-Scenenoise
“ Her violin is pastoral and dreamy.”
- Jazz Weekly
“Une exploration sublime et mélancolique... Tant de grâce et de beauté.”
- Deuxieme Page
“Innovative and vibrant debut… this original music is full of subtle wit and sublime emotion. Chaker has not simply fused genres, she has transcended them. Her eloquent and poignant compositions are simultaneously earthy and spiritual, provocative and passionate.”
- All About Jazz
Itunes - No.1 on World Music Chart (February 2019)
Amazon - No.1 on World Music Chart (February 2019)
“Sometimes rasping, sometimes full-bodied, always emotionally-charged violin playing. A considered, unique and profound performance… Pure poetry.”
- Songlines – Top of the World 2019
Layale Chaker on the violin as cultural chameleon
The violin has always been the wanderer's instrument. It is partly why it has ended in my hands, and why it is claimed so easily and so differently by most people around the world. Like a chameleon, its range, colours and tonal centres effortlessly blend into any musical dialect it lands in.
5 Questions to Layale Chaker (composer, violinist)
Barenboim's Layale Chaker has appeared as a soloist, performer, improviser and composer in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and North and South America, including as a member of Daniel West-Eastern Divan. On , she will perform at the Royal Albert Hall's Café Verdi as part of the 4th Arab Women Artists Now festival, which showcases work by contemporary Arab women from a range of disciplines.
Layale Chaker, violon hybride - Edgar DAVIDIAN
Une opulente chevelure d'un noir de jais qui cascade jusqu'aux hanches, de grands yeux pétillants de vie, un joli minois, un pull blanc à col roulé moulant sur un jeans noir. Par-delà ces grandes mains aux doigts fins et blancs qu'elle agite discrètement et qui doivent pincer avec art les cordes, une silhouette gracieuse pour une musicienne qui vit actuellement entre Paris et Londres.
Q & A: Layale Chaker - Composer and Violinist
London-based composer and violinist Layale Chaker will be performing Inner Rhyme at St Marylebone Church with the Sarafand Ensemble. Here, Layale shares with us: what inspired her to compose Inner Rhyme, how her rich Lebanese heritage influenced her musical style, and her professional experience performing as member of the West-Divan Orchestra.
Layale Chaker beim Morgenland Festival Osnabrück
Hervorragendes Ensemble: Layale Chaker (2. von links) und ihre Band Sarafand mit Michel Godard (3. von links). Foto: Michael Gründel Osnabrück. Die libanesische Geigerin Layale Chaker hat sich auf Spurensuche begeben: Sie hat die Musik aus der Goldenen Ära des Libanon wiederentdeckt und beim Morgenland Festival ein bezauberndes Konzert gespielt.
ما قبل الرحابنة | ليال شاكر واستعادة ماضٍ مستحيل
في كتاب من أوراق زكي ناصيف الصادر عن الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت، يلحظ المرء مرارًا في كتابات ناصيف وفي الأسئلة الموجهة إليه هاجس التساؤل عما قد يجعل موسيقى ما "لبنانية"، أهي الكلمة الزجلية على ما يقول ناصيف مرارًا، حتى وإن أنتجت أغنية لبنانية بنسبة خمسين في المائة (كما يقول ناصيف أحيانًا) أم هو نسج اللحن والإيقاعات على نسق الأهازيج الشعبية مثلما يشير هو أيضًا إلى صنعته في بعض دبكاته؟ لا يبدو أننا ابتعدنا كثيرًا عن مثل هذا الهاجس، ولا عن عسر الإجابة عليه.