New York, NY —
Five years after the US invasion of Iraq, an Iraqi-American musician is preserving the classical music of Baghdad here in New York. WNYC’s Siddhartha Mitter reports.
REPORTER: In late 2002, just before the invasion, Amir ElSaffar was in Baghdad on an investigative mission of his own. He was 25 years old and he was there to learn from the masters of Iraqi maqam. That’s the classical music of Baghdad -- centuries old, but these days, practiced by few.
ELSAFFAR: I felt like I absolutely have to go, and if I don’t go now something bad is going to happen. There’s a reason in my life I have to go... I was also aware that a war was very likely.
REPORTER: Growing up in Chicago, ElSaffar had an American childhood and even though there was Arabic music around him, he became a jazz trumpeter. But in Baghdad he took up the delicate stringed instrument called the santoor, and he learned Iraqi classical singing.
REPORTER: ElSaffar tracked down the living masters of maqam, amid the stress of a looming war, until he could no longer stay.
ELSAFFAR: I felt that my presence was putting my relatives in danger. That was basically when I left, when they told me that neighbors were speaking about, who’s this half-Iraqi, half-American cousin of yours here studying music.
REPORTER: Back in the US, ElSaffar was so involved in maqam that he was ready to give up the trumpet and his jazz career. But in the end he chose to do both. His record “Two Rivers” features some of New York’s top jazz and Arab musicians. It’s a project only ElSaffar could have created.
ELSAFFAR: Basically all of my experience, my musical background is culminated in this piece. ... Every piece is exploring a different ruhiya, a different spiritual essence, which triggered a different approach, whether it’s a free jazz feeling, or a 4/4 swing, or a slow funk groove...
REPORTER: The ruhiya is the spirit that gives each maqam its compositional structure, and its emotional character. It’s not something to treat lightly.
ELSAFFAR: At a certain point I kind of went to the maqam and asked its permission. I went to the ruhiyas of the different pieces that I started to think would make sense. But I felt that I had to get permission – I don’t know, I just asked…
REPORTER: The spirits must have recognized his sincerity. “Two Rivers” is a fascinating record that won critical acclaim. But ElSaffar isn’t just applying maqam to jazz. He’s also playing maqam in the deepest classical tradition with his other group, Safaafir.
ELSAFFAR: I’m not modernizing the maqam. The maqam stays and its develops on its own.
REPORTER: And ElSaffar is simply the messenger. But in both aspects of his work, he’s helping the maqam of Baghdad to not just survive, but contribute to global culture in the new century. Iraq is still in turmoil, but the ruhiyas – those spiritual essences at the heart of the music – can rest easy.
REPORTER: For WNYC, I’m Siddhartha Mitter