What happens when the history of jazz is seen through the lens of faith, identity and memory? Saudi artist Sultan Bin Fahad explores this question in Blue Note, his solo exhibition currently on view at Leila Heller Gallery in Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, until 13 September 2026.

Rather than looking at jazz simply as a musical genre, Bin Fahad traces its deeper connections to spirituality, Islam, African heritage and the struggle for equality. Through oil paintings, intricate bead works and an installation of archival material, the artist brings together stories that reveal an often-overlooked dimension of jazz history.

One of the exhibition’s central works, Supreme, transforms John Coltrane’s 1965 album A Love Supreme into a visual composition. Made from thousands of beads, the work depicts a jazz ensemble arranged around eight-pointed stars, a geometric form strongly associated with Islamic art and design.

The connection to Coltrane opens a wider story. His music carried a profound spiritual dimension, while the jazz world around him included several musicians who embraced Islam. Among them were Yusef Lateef, Art Blakey and Ahmed Abdul-Malik, whose portraits appear in Bin Fahad’s paintings.

The exhibition also looks beyond the music itself. An installation brings together records, books and historical references connected to jazz and the American Civil Rights Movement. Among the archival pieces is a 1950 letter written by Malcolm X from prison, offering a personal glimpse into his early relationship with Islam, identity and spirituality.

For Bin Fahad, Blue Note began with a simple conversation. A friend mentioned the links between jazz and Islam, sparking the artist’s curiosity and leading him into research that stretched from the African roots of jazz to its development in the United States during the mid-20th century.

The result is not simply an exhibition about music. It is a visual exploration of how sound, faith, history and identity can overlap. Beads become rhythm, geometric forms become visual language, and archival documents become part of a larger story about belonging and cultural exchange.

At Leila Heller Gallery in Dubai, Blue Note invites visitors to look beyond the sound of jazz and discover the spiritual and cultural histories that have shaped it.

The exhibition remains on view until 13 September 2026 at Leila Heller Gallery, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai.