#4628, New Sounds Live 2022, Amir ElSaffar and Rivers of Sound Orchestra

From the New Sounds Live concert series and the Ecstatic Music Festival Iraqi-American composer, trumpeter, and santur player, Amir ElSaffar, leads the 16-piece Rivers of Sound Orchestra, at Kaufman Music Center Merkin Hall. The band is from a broad spectrum of traditions and features Iraqi vocalist Hamid Al-Saadi, one of the last living masters of Baghdadi maqam.

Amir ElSaffar’s Rivers of Sound Orchestra combines the santur and microtonal trumpet together with English horn, oud, violin, and percussion; each musician is so versatile that they are able to bend with the music. It also helps that the piano and vibraphone are tuned and shaved, respectively, to the maqam system to achieve microtones. Expect versatility and a joyful musical experience in new music that blurs the conceptual space in between jazz, Iraqi Maqam music, and various other musical traditions from around the world, as well as between improvisation and composition. - Caryn Havlik

Program #4628, New Sounds Live 2022: Amir ElSaffar and Rivers of Sound Orchestra (First aired 6/2/22)

ARTIST: Hamid Al-Saadi, Amir ElSaffar and Rivers of Sound Orchestra
WORK: March [1:01]
RECORDING: New Sounds Live, from Kaufman Music Center Merkin Hall, April 28, 2022
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: A performance of this piece appears on The Other Shore, available at amirelsaffartworivers.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Amir ElSaffar and Rivers of Sound Orchestra
WORK: Emergence [10:03]
RECORDING: New Sounds Live from Kaufman Music Center Merkin Hall, April 28, 2022
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: amirelsaffar.com

ARTIST: Amir ElSaffar and Rivers of Sound Orchestra
WORK: Emergence/Lightning Flash [11:20]
RECORDING: New Sounds Live from Kaufman Music Center Merkin Hall, April 28, 2022
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: A performance of "Lightning Flash" appears on The Other Shore, available at amirelsaffartworivers.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Hamid Al-Saadi, Amir ElSaffar and Rivers of Sound Orchestra
WORK: Improvisation [11:09]
RECORDING: New Sounds Live, from Kaufman Music Center Merkin Hall, April 28, 2022
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: amirelsaffar.com

ARTIST: Hamid Al-Saadi, Amir ElSaffar and Rivers of Sound Orchestra
WORK: March [11:10]
RECORDING: New Sounds Live, from Kaufman Music Center Merkin Hall, April 28, 2022
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: A performance of this piece appears on The Other Shore, available at amirelsaffartworivers.bandcamp.com