Amir El-Saffar, Rivers Of Sound Orchestra - Not Two album flac

Two Rivers sextet and an orchestral work at the Aix Festival in France. Special duo performance with Iraqi Maqam master Hamid Al-Saadi at the Supersense Festival in Melbourne, Australia. Solo performance at the Supersense Festival in Melbourne, Australia

Rivers of Sound: Not Two (Double LP/CD, New Amsterdam, 2017). Crisis (2015) Two Rivers Ensemble Pi Recordings. Alchemy (2013) Amir El Saffar Quintet Pi Recordings. Inana (2011) Two Rivers Ensemble Pi Recordings. Radif Suite (2010) Amir ElSaffar & Hafez Modirzadeh Pi Recordings. Two Rivers (2007) Two Rivers Ensemble Pi Recordings. Maqams of Baghdad (2005) Safaafir. Rivers Of Sound ORCHESTRA. Rivers of Sound presents 17 musicians from a broad spectrum of traditions, from Iraqi maqam to American jazz. The Amir ElSaffar Quintet is the latest chapter in trumpeter Amir ElSaffar’s continuing investigation into the tonal systems of the Arab world and Middle East within a jazz context. The quintet’s debut album, Alchemy, was released in 2013 to critical acclaim. The ensemble features John Escreet, Francois Moutin, Dan Weiss, and Ole Mathisen.

The Rivers of Sound Orchestra is an expansion of ElSaffar’s six-piece Two Rivers Ensemble. Active since 2006, this sextet explores the juncture between jazz and music of the Middle East. Their 2015 release, Crisis (Pi Recordings) is a reflection on a region in turmoil and strife: revolution, civil war, sectarian violence; a culture’s struggle for survival. Amir gradually found himself drawn to the Musical Heritage of his Father’s native country: Iraq. In 2001, after winning the Carmine Caruso Jazz Trumpet Competition, he funded a trip to Baghdad to find and study with the few surviving masters of the Iraqi Maqam.

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CHICAGO-Trumpeter Amir ElSaffar and his Rivers of Sound Orchestra bring their cross-cultural sonic tapestry to Symphony Center on Friday, February 9, at 8 . as part of the Symphony Center Presents (SCP) Jazz series. Chicago-based jazz drummer Mike Reed opens the evening with music from his powerful project Flesh & Bone. Performing music from their acclaimed debut album Not Two, the ensemble features both traditionally western and uniquely Middle Eastern instruments, including strings, winds and various percussion, and features ElSaffar performing on trumpet, voice and santur, a Persian hammered dulcimer. Opening the program is Mike Reed’s seven-piece ensemble Flesh & Bone-Greg Ward, alto saxophone; Tim Haldeman, tenor saxophone; Ben Lamar Gay, cornet; Jason Stein, bass clarinet; Jason Roebke, bass; Marvin Tate, vocals; and Mike Reed, drums.

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Rivers of Sound: Not Two is a continuation of the Two Rivers concept, but projected onto a wider canvas unprecedented in scope and imagination. Microtonal maqam melodies traverse a richly-textured bed of sound created by oud, buzuk, and santur, in combination with cello, violin, saxophones, English horn, and trumpet. Also at play are multilayered, rhythmic patterns and harmonies performed by re-tuned vibraphone, piano, and guitar. ElSaffar believes that the nature of this sound cannot be captured digitally and has committed to all analog, with a double LP to be released in the Fall of 2016. The group’s performance schedule continues in 2016 with a tour including stops at the Kimmel Center, Cleveland Museum of Art, NYU Abu Dhabi, and Royal Opera House of Oman.