Iraqi-American trumpeter Amir ElSaffarr is an accomplished jazz and classical trumpeter with impressive performance credits and artistic awards. He has collaborated with such esteemed artists as Cecil Taylor, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Vijay Iyer, and Daniel Barenboim; and was the winner of the prestigious Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet competition.

ElSaffar became versed in Maqam, and learned to play the santoor (Iraqi hammered dulcimer) and to sing, and he now leads the group: Safaafir, the only ensemble in the US performing Iraqi Maqam. He has also created new techniques for the trumpet that enable microtones and ornaments that are characteristic to Arabic music but are not typically heard on a trumpet.

In 2006, ElSaffar turned his attention back to Jazz, approaching it now with an Iraqi/Arabic bent. His 2007 Release, Two Rivers Suite, is a groundbreaking, emotionally charged work that invokes ancient Iraqi musical traditions and frames them in a modern Jazz setting. The compositions are based on Iraqi Maqam melodies, each of which is believed to have a unique spiritual essence and to contain an aspect of Iraq's history and society. These rich melodies, which often contain non-western tunings, are set to heavy grooves, free jazz-like ensemble playing, and multi-layered sound textures.

Amir ElSaffar and his sextet, which includes
Rudresh Mahanthappa (saxophone),
Nasheet Waits (drums),
Carlo DeRosa(bass),
Tareq Abboushi (buzuq and percussion),
and Zaafir Tawil (oud, violin and dumbek)

When:
Wednesday, August 5, 2009 at 7:30pm