Amir ElSaffar’s Two Rivers Ensemble Featuring Hamid Al-Saadi at Drom

Amir ElSaffar’s Two Rivers Ensemble featuring Maqam vocalist Hamid Al-Saadi at Drom
April 2. 7:30PM. $20-25.

As a composer and as a musician, Amir ElSaffar brings together two different musical streams. His works combine elements of classical Arab music, especially from Iraq, where his family is from, with the sounds of a big jazz band. And as a performer himself, ElSaffar plays both the Western trumpet and the Iraqi santour, a type of dulcimer. He calls his band the Two Rivers Ensemble, and they often play with the great Iraqi singer Hamid Al-Saadi. Amir ElSaffar, and The Two Rivers Ensemble commemorates the 20^th anniversary of the Iraqi war on Sunday, April 2 with a performance at the club Drom.