muzycy:
Amir ElSaffar: trumpet, voice
Hafez Modirzadeh: tenor saxophone
Mark Dresser: bass
Alex Cline: drums

“… at times reminiscent of the classic Ornette Coleman Quartet, albeit with a Middle Eastern flavor.”
Jazz Times

“A scintillating new album…the two leaders pursue the sort of brash polyphony once synonymous with Don Cherry and Ornette Coleman, and now open for sharply rigorous adaptation.”
New York Times

“A rewarding collection thick with ideas and inspiration”
LA Times

“A new grammar for composition and improvisation”
Dusted Magazine


Radif Suite is an important new recording from trumpeter Amir ElSaffar and tenor saxophonist Hafez Modirzadeh. The CD is a cross-cultural exchange between the Iraqi maqam, the Persian dastgah, and American jazz. Both ElSaffar and Modirzadeh are of mixed heritage (Iraqi-American and Iranian-American, respectively) whose musical careers are dedicated to expressing their ancestral traditions within the jazz medium. ElSaffar has spent years traveling abroad seeking out masters who could impart to him the Iraqi maqam tradition. He released the highly acclaimed Two Rivers (Pi 24), his first major work joining maqam with contemporary improvised music in 2007. Modirzadeh had spent years under the guidance of Iranian master musician Mahmoud Zoufounoun and developed his own “chromodal” approach to intercultural musical practice, which allows for the co-existence of multiple traditions within one cohesive system. He is known among saxophonists for his masterful ability to traverse different musical temperaments. They are supported with superb sensitivity by renowned bassist Mark Dresser and master drummer, Alex Cline.

The two first met at a recording session, but had long known about the other through Vijay Iyer and Rudresh Mahanthappa, who were both familiar with what Modirzadeh had been working on for the last 20 years. Throughout 2009, Amir and Hafez got together .......
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