3’Ain - UNLAND

3'Ain is a trio in which Yamen Martini (trumpet) Otto Kint (upright bass) and Piet Maris (accordion) join forces: they bring a unique blend of worldwide jazz with influences from Arab music. More or less 13 years ago, Yamen left Syria tot arrive in Belgium in 2015, where he met Piet. After collaborating on music for a theatre play, Piet invited Yamen to join Jaune Toujours as a guest musician, as you can hear on their album Europeana. In the summer of 2019, Otto joined them, giving birth to 3’Ain. The band name is based on the eighteenth letter of the Arabic alphabet, ع , a vowel that is often represented as ‘3’ in chat and SMS conversations and in transliteration as 'ain, 3'Ain seemed an appropriate name for a trio playing contemporary and worldwide jazz with influences from the Arab world.

With their distinctive sound, they released their first EP on the own Choux de Bruxelles label in 2020. The subsequent full album, ‘Sea of Stories’ has been released in 2023 and just before the Summer of 2026 they have released the new album ‘Unland’ with ‘Oufti’ as the first single.