Our second single “Lifta” from the upcoming album will drop
Friday January 16, 2026 at Noon Central / 8 pm Jerusalem.

Full album drops February 13, 2026

Watch YouTube premiere

See our first single from the upcoming album

 

Breaking down barriers

The East Loop is a boundary-pushing instrumental music ensemble that combines Jazz and Maqam and likes to improvise. Lead by award winning composer and multi-instrumentalist Wanees Zarour. The original compositions embrace the intersections of traditions, and expands the parameters of both to create an innovative sound and a unique musical journey.

The band is composed of a full rhythm section; piano, guitar, bass, drums and percussion, in addition to a horn section (saxophone, trombone), buzuq and oud. Wanees Zarour & East Loop expect to release the debut album of this project, “Silwan” on Feb 13 2026.

Listen here to Wanees Zarour chatting with Audrey Q Snyder on her podcast, Audpod about the East Loop project.

 

  • “The jazz dimension, subtle, organic, and structurally integrated, gives his compositions a fluidity rarely found in contemporary world music. His work sits comfortably in the lineage of world-jazz pioneers, artists who used improvisation not to escape their cultural origins but to expand them.”

    —Thierry De Clemensat (Paris-Move)

  • “If 2026 is destined to open with a wave of strong releases, Zarour’s contribution is among those that demand to be kept close, the kind of record that insists on repeat listening. Its seven original compositions unfold like chapters in a novel, each distinct, each layered, each revealing something new with every encounter.”

    —Thierry De Clemensat (Paris-Move)

  • “While jazz is an underlying component, it is overshadowed for the most part by Zarour’s focus on Middle Eastern melody, harmony and rhythm… Zarour’s colorful and eastern-centered compositions and arrangements lend the session its ambience and charm.”

    —Jack Bowers (All About Jazz)

Upcoming Concerts

Jazz | Funk | Rock | Maqam

 

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