Amir ElSaffar's Two Rivers Ensemble

Wednesday April 8 • the Music Gallery presents
AMIR ELSAFFAR’S TWO RIVERS ENSEMBLE

Amir ElSaffar — trumpet
Rudresh Mahanthappa — saxophone
Nasheet Waits — drums
Carlo DeRosa — bass
Zaafir Tawil — oud, violin and dumbek

Doors 7pm, concert 8pm
Tickets $25 regular, $20 member, $15 student & senior
Advance tickets at www.ticketweb.ca

The Music Gallery is very pleased to present the Toronto debut of Amir ElSaffar and his Two Rivers Ensemble, a group that combines the hauntingly beautiful melodies of Iraqi Maqam music with some of the most incendiary playing in the contemporary American jazz world. This quintet also marks the welcome return of sax player Rudresh Mahanthappa, who last appeared at the Music Gallery’s X Avant New Music Festival in Sept. 2007.

Iraqi-American trumpeter Amir ElSaffar 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.

Seven years ago, Amir ElSaffar put his New York career on hold to immerse himself in the music of his father's ancestral past, the Iraqi Maqam. ElSaffar went on a tremendous quest, traveling to Iraq, throughout the Middle East and to Europe, pursuing masters who could impart to him this centuries-old oral tradition. He quickly 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, is a groundbreaking, emotionally charged work that invokes ancient Iraqi musical traditions and frames them in a modern jazz setting. Described by BBC World as “harrowing to absorb; full of as much beauty as pain,” 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 Two Rivers Ensemble meld styles and seamlessly cross-pollinate the languages of ancient and modern, East and West. Elsaffar's compositions are some of the first in the history of jazz to make use of Arabic modality and its non-western tunings. Two Rivers is a powerful journey through Iraq's glorious and tragic past and present; and it cries Amir's personal struggle, his feelings as an Iraqi-American watching his father's homeland in turmoil and destruction.

Press Quotes

“ElSaffar demonstrated with his ensemble how hungry jazz still is for sources older than itself.” — Ben Ratliff, The New York Times

“One of 2007’s more important works.” — Stuart Broomer, pointofdepature.org

“Like the best jazz, this music celebrates the ability of great musicians to imagine unfamiliar territory, and navigate it in a way that makes for both intuitive understanding and compelling listening.” — NPR.org

“A stirring example of the creative possibilities of international jazz in the 21st century.” — All About Jazz

Ensemble Bios

Rudresh Mahanthappa (saxophone) — Guggenheim fellow Rudresh Mahanthappa has been awarded numerous grants and honours for his groundbreaking cross-cultural musical explorations and artistic vision. He tours globally with seven different groups, several of which he leads or co-leads; and was named a "Rising Star of the alto saxophone" by the Downbeat International Critics Poll for the past four years.

Zafer Tawil (oud, violin and dumbek) — Zafer Tawil is a Palestinian musician based in New York City. He is a master of Arabic percussion with virtuoso talents on oud, violin and qanun. He has performed with numerous musicians ranging from pop star Sting, to Arab music greats such as Simone Shaheen, Chab Mami, Bassam Saba, and George Ziadeh; to avant-garde composer/performer Elliott Sharp. Zafer has composed music for a number of films including Jonathan Demme’s Rachel Getting Married.

Nasheet Waits (drums) — Encouraged by his father, legendary percussionist, Freddie Waits, long time teacher, Michael Carvin, and his mentor, Max Roach; Nasheet Waits has been playing the drums since childhood. Nasheet has gone on to record and perform with a veritable who's who in jazz, boasting stints with such notables as Geri Allen, Hamiett Bluiett, Ron Carter, Steve Coleman, Andrew Hill, and Joshua Redman, Rubin. He was a member of the all-star percussion orchestra, M'BOOM, collaborating with Tony Williams and Ginger Baker.

Carlo DeRosa (bass) — Carlo DeRosa is a much sought after bassist who has worked with many greats in the Latin and jazz World, including Ravi Coltrane, Ed Thigpen, Steve Turre and Papo Vasquez. In 1999, he traveled throughout the African continent as a "US Jazz Ambassador," with residencies in numerous countries.