3'Ain is a trio in which Yamen Martini (trumpet) Otto Kint (upright bass) and Piet
Maris (accordion) join forces: they play contemporary world and jazz with oriental
influences.
In 2015 Yamen moved from Syria to Belgium, where he met Piet: the two started working
together on music for a theatre play in 2016. Later on, Piet invited Yamen to play and
record as a guest musician with Jaune Toujours, as you can hear on their most recent
album Europeana. Summer of 2019, they asked Otto to join in on their musical
exchange, starting up the new trio 3’Ain.
The band name is based on ? , which is the eighteenth letter in the Arabic alphabet, one of
the most difficult vowels to pronounce for western people. As it is often indicated in Arabic
chat- and sms-conversation as 3, and in transliteration as 'ain, 3'Ain seemed an
appropriate name for a trio playing contemporary jazz and world with oriental influences.
May 2020, in full lockdown they released a first EP through the own label Choux de
Bruxelles. Spring 2023, they will release a first album: 'Sea of Stories'. Their music
regularly refers to the surroundings and atmosphere of the place where they create, in the
port of Ostend, as does the single 'Scrambled Ensor'.