Fri 4/15 @ 7:30PM
Amir ElSaffar was born in the Chicago area and now lives in New York City. But the trumpet player/vocalist looks back his Middle Eastern heritage — he’s of Iraqi descent — for musical inspiration. He’s got a jazz and classical background, with a degree in classical trumpet from DePaul University. He played in both orchestras and jazz clubs in the Chicago area. But in the last decade and a half, he got the itch to learn more about his father’s culture, traveling to Iraq and around the Middle East, even learning Arabic.
His most recent release, last year’s Crisis, features his Two Rivers Ensemble, a group he created specifically to explore the intersections of jazz and Middle Eastern music, using microtones and embellishments taken from traditional Arabic maqam music.
“The new work is his reflection on a region in turmoil and strife: revolution, civil war, sectarian violence; a culture’s struggle for survival,” says his website. “It sets aside some of the more exploratory work that he has done in recent years to focus on music that is passionate and visceral, a cry from the heart. Crisis was commissioned by the Newport Jazz Festival, where at its 2013 premiere, it made a clear emotional connection to the audience, receiving a rousing standing ovation after just the first piece.”
ElSaffar will bring his 17-member Rivers of Sound to the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gartner Auditorium. Tickets are $33-$45.
clevelandart.org/amir-elsaffar’s-rivers-sound