hallelujazz project, which was formed in 2002, is the brainchild of Tosin Aribisala. With band members from different parts of Africa and the United States, the band is made up of well-talented and professional musicians with great passion for music.
According to Tosin, he is trying to bring forth a cross-cultural musical spectrum with his band by merging his traditional African musical concept with a blend of jazz elements and other contemporary music genres in order to thrill the 21st century music listeners with his original compositions.
Currently, the band performs at various venues around Maryland, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Virginia and around the U.S.
The word “hallelujazz” originated from two different sources - the biblical word Hallelujah and the American-born musical genre called Jazz. Thus, the marriage of these two words gave birth to hallelujazz. As a matter of fact, my cultural background and native Yoruba language play a significant part in putting the words together.
Simply put, it is obvious that some words in one particular culture may sound homonymous to that of another culture; and some languages are so flexible that they can be twisted to bear a different meaning in another language. Such is the case with the Hebrew word Hallelujah. As a point of reference, the first three syllables of Hallelujah, ha-lle-lu or a-lè-lu, can be interpreted as “we can play/beat” in Yoruba language. Therefore, to typical Yoruba folks hallelujazz could be pronounced as “we can play jazz”. Precisely, the Yoruba language is a major ingredient in the formation of the word hallelujazz.
How about the concept behind hallelujazz project? The main idea is to bring to life a cross-cultural musical spectrum. The term “cross-cultural” in this context is used in the sense that there is an amalgamation of African musical and cultural idiom and a blend of jazz in the orchestration of the band’s original sound…not necessarily deviating from the authenticity of each style because they are from the same source – black music. As for the audience, Hallelujazz is free for all…for anyone who can feel the sound of music. So keep your ears open!
we play jazz
we hear jazz
we talk jazz
we read jazz
we write jazz
we sing jazz
we criticize jazz
we adore jazz
we feel jazz
we live jazz
we fraternize jazz
we perpetuate jazz
we institutionalize jazz
we beboppize jazz
we hiphoppize jazz
we even jazzify jazz
God knows what would
become of us without the
existence of jazz in our lives.
Glory be to jazz, Hallelujazz!