Category: music

Led by the omnivorous drummer Sunny Jain, Red Baraat is a fun, infectious Brooklyn-based band that deftly blends North Indian bhangra rhythms, rowdy brass-band energy, and konokol singing to create an explosive sound that’s “fun as hell” (Chicago Reader).The music is grounded by heavy-duty sousaphone basslines, abundant percussion, and potent free improvising from trombone, saxophones, trumpet and bass trumpet.

This program is sponsored by the Pioneer Valley Hotel Group. More Information

In 2006, upon receiving commissions from the Painted Bride Arts Center in Philadelphia and from the Festival of New Trumpet Music (FONT), ElSaffar composed Two Rivers, a suite that invokes Iraqi musical traditions and frames them in a modern jazz setting. His 2007 Pi Recordings release, Two Rivers, featuring jazz (Rudresh Mahanthappa, Nasheet Waits, Carlo DeRosa, Amir ElSaffar) and traditional Iraqi musicians (Tareq Abboushi, Zaafer Tawil), was described by All About Jazz as, “a stirring example of the creative possibilities of international jazz in the 21st century.” The disc landed on many Top 10 of the year lists. “Two Rivers is a staggering accomplishment,” writes The Chicago Reader.

After winning the 2001 Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet competition, Amir ElSaffar traveled to his father’s homeland to immerse himself in the Iraqi maqam, pursuing masters who could impart this centuries-old oral tradition. “This is new turf,” writes The Philadelphia Inquirer, “and it’s likely to be a lot for either culture to digest. Yet the feeling and eloquence that emanate from this sextet make the experiment worthwhile.”

ElSaffar also leads a collaborative quartet with tenor saxophonist Hafez Modirzadeh, featuring Mark Dresser, bass and Alex Cline, drums. Their recent release, Radif Suite (Pi Recordings), has already received considerable acclaim. Time Out Chicago calls it “a stunning album…a surprisingly inviting amalgam of influences, merging both Iraqi and Persian modal systems into a continuous whole. The quartet adds a new chapter to the jazz tradition’s ever-evolving history.”

ElSaffar has received commissions from the Jazz Gallery and Jerome Foundation for the creation of a new work, Within Between, which premiered in February, and from Chamber Music America for a new work for Two Rivers. ElSaffar has also composed for theater projects, including the Wilma Theater’s productions of Heather Raffo’s Nine Parts of Desire and Wajdi Mouawad’s Scorched. He has composed, improvised, and performed on several film soundtracks, and appeared in Jonathan Demme’s Oscar-nominated film, Rachel Getting Married.

More Information

An edgy all-female powerhouse ensemble infuses traditional and original Middle Eastern Jewish songs with sophisticated harmonies, entrancing improvisations, and funky arrangements. Lead singer Galeet Dardashti follows a family tradition of distinguished musicianship dating back to 19th-century Persia. But it was down in Austin, Texas, where Divahn’s bold all-woman Mizrahi/Sephardi ensemble began dazzling audiences with its Middle Eastern grooves. Infusing traditional and original Jewish songs with sophisticated harmonies, entrancing improvisations, and funky arrangements, today Divahn has engendered an international following performing in venues ranging from top concert halls in Poland to the most prestigious clubs in NYC. More Information

Join an exhilarating musical journey that focuses on the richness of the African guitar tradition. The concert includes Habib Koité, the Malian superstar whose exciting concerts have endeared him to audiences worldwide; Oliver Mtukudzi, the best-selling artist in his home country of Zimbabwe; and Afel Bocoum, a guitarist, singer, and composer from Mali whose songs evoke the evolution of traditional Malian society.

As the spokesperson for Acoustic Africa puts it, “our vision is intra-African arts collaboration. This tour is a lovely expression of the finest African singer-songwriters from different traditions undertaking an extraordinary musical journey – the concert comes home to Africa, bringing together these wondrous musicians and audiences from many African traditions. It’s a great feeling to belong” (Artslink). More Information

"The Celestial Septet is a vehicle for time and space travel through dense, narrow thickets and airy, wide expanses of boundary-blurred extrapolations of jazz, rock, late-20th-century European modernism and American minimalism, and 21st-century postmodern fusions," writes Derk Richardson in the liner notes of the Septet’s recent New World Records release. "The trip is challenging, but the open-minded listener/traveler cannot help but come through the experience with new perspectives on sound and music."
Since forming in 1977, the Berkley-based ROVA Saxophone Quartet has become an important leader of genre-bending music. The Penguin Guide to Jazz calls its music "a teeming cosmos of saxophone sounds" created by "deliberately eschewing conventional notions about swing [and] prodding at the boundaries of sound and space…" Inspired by a broad spectrum of musical influences – from Charles Ives, Edgard Varese and Olivier Messiaen, to John Coltrane, Steve Lacy and Sun Ra – Rova began, in 1978, writing new material, touring, and recording, including adventurous collaborations with guitarists Henry Kaiser and Fred Frith, saxophonist John Zorn, and Italian percussionist Andrea Centazzo. In 1985, the Rova Saxophone Quartet incorporated as the not-for-profit organization Rova:Arts. Founding member Andrew Voigt left Rova in August 1988 and was replaced by Steve Adams. Otherwise, the personnel (Larry Ochs, Jon Raskin and Bruce Ackley) is unchanged.
The Nels Cline Singers are a ten-year old, all instrumental trio featuring guitarist Nels Cline, Devin Hoff, bass and Scott Amendola, drums. Born in Los Angeles in 1956, Nels Cline is known for his improvisational work in a wide variety of musical projects, as well as his use of effects pedals and looping devices which give his music a distinct sound. David Carr describes Cline as "one of the best guitarists in any genre." He has played with Charlie Haden, Wadada Leo Smith, Vinny Golia and the late Eric Von Essen, and has also worked with Willie Nelson, Thurston Moore and the jazz/punk/improv band Banyan. He frequently performs with his twin brother, drummer Alex Cline. He is currently the lead guitarist of the alternative rock band, Wilco.

More Information