Elsaffar, Amir / Crisis
| Album: | Crisis | Collection: | Jazz | |
| Artist: | Elsaffar, Amir | Added: | Jul 2015 | |
| Label: | Pi Recordings | |||
A-File Activity
| Add Date: | 2016-06-06 | Pull Date: | 2016-08-08 | Charts: | Jazz |
|---|
| Week Ending: | Aug 14 | Aug 7 | Jul 24 | Jul 17 | Jul 10 | Jul 3 | Jun 26 | Jun 19 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airplays: | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
Recent Airplay
| 1. | Jul 11, 2022: | Rebop
Taqsim Saba |
4. | Aug 07, 2016: | K-Area
The Great Dictator |
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| 2. | Aug 12, 2016: | Rebop
The Great Dictator |
5. | Aug 05, 2016: | Rebop
Floyover Iraq |
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| 3. | Aug 09, 2016: | DJ YJ's Cultural Tidbits: Iraqi Music and Culture
Taqsim Saba, Love Poem (Complete), Aneen (Weeping), Continued |
6. | Aug 04, 2016: | Clean Copper Radio
Floyover Iraq |
Album Review
Be Sharp
Reviewed 2016-05-31
Reviewed 2016-05-31
WORLD JAZZ
Another masterpiece by Iraqi-American trumpeter ElSaffar blending Middle Eastern instruments, modes, and this time Arabic verse, into a western jazz context. It’s sometimes challenging but always excellent. Instruments are trumpet, saxes, bass & drums, plus santur, buzuq, oud, and other perc. See the liner notes for explanations & English translations.
No FCC issues.
1 Slow. Drum intro, trumpet blast, then peaceful strings. Vocal invocation. (4:54)
2 ** Mid-fast. Folk dance feel in mixed time signatures. Very compelling. (8:50)
3 * Slow. Sad solo trumpet improvisation. Quite beautiful. (3:17)
4 * Fast. Bass solo starts, drums join, then horns & strings. Certainly Middle Eastern sounding, but sort of fun and funky too. (8:18)
5 Slow. First half is delicate interplay of western and Middle Eastern instruments. Second half is a 13th-century Arabic love poem sung in a slow chant by Elsaffar. (7:05)
6 ** Mid-fast. Fascinating mashup of East & West. Highly rhythmic. (8:19)
7 ** Mid-tempo. Syncopated & tense. The “straightest” jazz piece here, but it still clearly references Middle Eastern tonality. Interplay between trumpet & perc is suburb. (13:40)
8 Very slow. Somber like a funeral march. Solo trumpet elegy & fateful drums. (3:36)
9 Slow. A reprise of track 5. Same melody. The complete poem rather than a part. (7:08)
Another masterpiece by Iraqi-American trumpeter ElSaffar blending Middle Eastern instruments, modes, and this time Arabic verse, into a western jazz context. It’s sometimes challenging but always excellent. Instruments are trumpet, saxes, bass & drums, plus santur, buzuq, oud, and other perc. See the liner notes for explanations & English translations.
No FCC issues.
1 Slow. Drum intro, trumpet blast, then peaceful strings. Vocal invocation. (4:54)
2 ** Mid-fast. Folk dance feel in mixed time signatures. Very compelling. (8:50)
3 * Slow. Sad solo trumpet improvisation. Quite beautiful. (3:17)
4 * Fast. Bass solo starts, drums join, then horns & strings. Certainly Middle Eastern sounding, but sort of fun and funky too. (8:18)
5 Slow. First half is delicate interplay of western and Middle Eastern instruments. Second half is a 13th-century Arabic love poem sung in a slow chant by Elsaffar. (7:05)
6 ** Mid-fast. Fascinating mashup of East & West. Highly rhythmic. (8:19)
7 ** Mid-tempo. Syncopated & tense. The “straightest” jazz piece here, but it still clearly references Middle Eastern tonality. Interplay between trumpet & perc is suburb. (13:40)
8 Very slow. Somber like a funeral march. Solo trumpet elegy & fateful drums. (3:36)
9 Slow. A reprise of track 5. Same melody. The complete poem rather than a part. (7:08)
Track Listing
| 1. | Introduction - From The Ashes | 5. | Love Poem | |||
| 2. | The Great Dictator | 6. | Floyover Iraq | |||
| 3. | Taqsim Saba | 7. | Tipping Point | |||
| 4. | El-Sha'ab (The People) | 8. | Aneen (Weeping), Continued | |||
| 9. | Love Poem (Complete) | |||||