In the new Philadelphia Weekly:
Amir ElSaffar’s Two Rivers
Sat., Oct. 2, 8pm. $25. Painted Bride Art Center, 230 Vine St. 215.925.9914 www.paintedbride.org
The new Painted Bride season revs up with Amir ElSaffar, an Iraqi-American trumpeter whose music in recent years has also emphasized his singing and santoor playing. ElSaffar’s 2007 release Two Rivers was deep stuff: an energized, personal hybrid of jazz and Iraqi maqam, featuring horns and rhythm section as well as the non-Western oud and buzuq. Lately he’s delved into Azerbaijani mugham vocalizing (the as yet unrecorded Within/Between); explored a synthesis of maqam and Persian dastgah with Iranian-American saxophonist Hafez Modirzadeh (Radif Suite); and played some straight-up trumpet with Danilo Perez’s 21st-Century Dizzy project. This week he revisits the Two Rivers concept with the premiere of a new extended work. — David R. Adler
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