After leading the “Jazzworkers” and touring for about fifteen years in France and abroad with this hard bop quintet, here is the new project of drummer Mourad Benhammou: the “Soulfuls Drums”! “I wanted to find another orchestral sound through a more original instrumentation, such as this unique combination of organ, vibraphone, guitar, tenor saxophone, and drums, which gives a certain color that allows the music to be arranged and made to sound different.”

The spectrum of the hard bop jazz sound hovers through a repertoire of compositions by McDuff and musicians who played in his orchestra, notably at the time the very young and still little-known “George Benson,” who provided the opening theme song for the “Soulful Drums” concerts with the highly charismatic piece “Shadow Dancers.”

This energetic quintet also features compositions by Les McCann and Harold Ousley, including “Haitian Lady,” “Rock a Bye,” “Scream,” “Blues & Tonic,” “Soul Woman,” “Greasy Drums,” and “My Three Sons.”

This project, which began more than four years ago with tours at several festivals such as Jazz à Colmar, “Jazz sous les Vignes” in Visan, and Parisian clubs, reveals an original and inspiring sound, combining César Pastre’s organ and Niholas Thomas’s vibraphone, supported by Yoan Fernanzdez’s guitar, Davis Sausay’s saxophone, and frontman Mourad Benhammou on drums.