Saudi Arabian Jazz Fusion: From Secret Gigs to Public Parade

Photo by @superbimagestudios

Photo by @superbimagestudios

Last week I was lucky enough to interview the multi-talented Saudi musician Raif Bukhari, and, very spontaneously, his equally talented friend Salih Alzuhair.

They shared their experiences navigating the up-and-coming jazz scene in Saudi Arabia; what it felt like playing to a public crowd of 10,000 in the Saudi National Day parade, and how jazz fusion has helped them reconnect with their cultural identity.

Hey Raif! How would you describe your music in a nutshell? 


It’s hard to classify the music we make, so you can just call it Fusion. For example, yesterday we were jamming with percussion. We’d switch from Indian to Saudi beats, every four bars just to practise moving from one sound to another.


“There are many elements. There’s the influence from my homeland: Saudi. But then also from the music that my dad used to play for me, a lot of jazz fusion. A lot of disco, funk, hip hop. Rock... blues…”


So it was your family that got you into playing music?


Definitely. I come from an artistic family. My mother is an interior designer, she studied commercial art. My sister is an art curator, my brother plays the piano. So literally everybody in my family is into art and music.


Then there’s my father, he’s a big music connoisseur. He gathers a lot of records and plays the saxophone, he’s always been a big fan of that. And he was influenced by my grandfather, who owned a shop that sold amplifiers, whole stereo systems, and projectors.


What kind of spaces have you played gigs in?


So my first gig (with a full band) was literally underground. It was in the basement of a Harley Davidson Workshop: a rock/ metal gig. I was around 16 years old. It was a new experience to us, seeing people really headbanging, enjoying it. All our family came to support us.


“There was a fear at some point, any point this could be cracked down. But thankfully that never happened as a result of our performances”.


And what about more recently, in public spaces? I know you played at Saudi Arabia’s first ever jazz festival last year, how was that!?


Here’s where I want my friend Salih to come in actually, as he was one of the consultants! 


*Shouts to the other room, Salih!* 

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Salih: I’m not sure why I’m here, but hi! Haha, yeah, the jazz festival was fun. 


We got to open a stage with international musicians. It was a great turnout. People were very supportive. 


Raif: It was our first performance on a big stage. This was a big change, because it felt like a real concert. We shared the stage with international artists. It was of a different, more professional standard. 


We were one of two local Saudi fusion bands that opened for the international bands: Mizan and Min Alriyadh. We were supporting a British band, Incognito actually.


Wow I love Incognito! That’s amazing!


Raif: Yeah, it was a surreal experience. 


Salih: An honour, they are legends! I grew up listening to a lot of acid jazz.



What was the crowd like?


Salih: Actually it was pretty progressive for its time.

“Usually the crowd is segregated with men on one side, and women on the other. This time it was like, singles on one side and family on the other. So if you’re here alone and you’re a dude, please stand over there.”



Raif: But because this crowd came for the jazz music, they were interactive. It was a completely different crowd from when we played the National Day Parade.

What was it like playing the Saudi National Day Parade?


Raif: That was public, and it was free so anyone could join. There were about 10,000 people there, it’s one of Saudi’s biggest cultural events. It had the divider for females and males. 



It was interesting because we didn't get the response we wanted. 


“We got booed actually, when we moved to the jazzy side. But we also got an equal amount of cheers when we played hip hop or disco. I think it was because the jazzy stuff was less familiar.”

Salih: Our project was unrefined. It was an experiment, testing the crowd as we went. We didn’t know the audience. But it was fun!


Raif: Yeah it was very much a learning experience, to know our audience and what to prepare for.


I know you’ve also been able to travel with your government representing Saudi Fusion. Can you tell me more about that? 

“It was called Saudi Cultural Days, where we travelled to London, Paris and New York representing the fusion of cultures with the general cultural authority of Saudi Arabia”.

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We wanted to give them an Arabic taste but at the same time writing our identity into the music, for example Saudi beats with a touch of jazz, hip-hop, funk, house or blues. 

where did you perform in london?

Raif: It was a high end design and auction house, ‘The Phillips’. Berkley Square. It was a really posh area. 


Oh wow, you were in Mayfair?!


Salih: Yup, emphasis on the high-end. It was really fancy.


Raif: They rented out like three floors, and at the top floor they had a VR station about Saudi Arabia, and the music going on.


That’s a very different side to London’s music culture as I’m sure you know!

Salih: Yeah, East London was the area we enjoyed more. It felt more genuine and cool, less “PR” and more actual music

Raif: We didn’t perform in East London, but we ended up seeing these really good musicians. We saw Yasiin Bey, Robert Glasper, Chris Dave, and Derick Hodge!



You guys have great taste in music. any final comments on the Saudi fusion scene?

Salih: I think because a lot of us grew up being heavily influenced by Western music, we learnt a lot from that.

“But recently I think we’ve reached a point where we’d like to reconnect with our culture: to redefine the passion for it and find a beautiful middle ground, where we’re coexisting together and creating something new.”

It seems to be why a lot of us started off being strictly Western, and are slowly connecting back.

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Raif: Yeah, I think it’s only been a year since we’ve started reconnecting, and it’s been very fulfilling. I’m really excited to see where this musical journey takes us! So many opportunities here in Saudi Arabia. The transformation ongoing in our country has opened the doors for artists of all types. I’m very grateful to be in this point of space and time.

want to stay up to date with raif and salih’s adventures through fusion?

follow them on insta at @raif_b and @lankymusic, and bring a little saudi jazz flavour to your feed!










Verity Raphael