By Josef Woodard | Published November 2021
Rivers of Sound is an apt, self-fulfilling moniker for the multicultural/multi-contextual large ensemble led by Amir ElSaffar. The Chicago-born, Iraqi-American musician (here on trumpet, santur and voice), offers his second, and finest, recording by this project. There’s willful diversity of cultural and ethnic shores touched on, but the fundamental aspect of combining instrumental sonics — currents of sound — is critical element in ElSaffar’s palette.
Ruminative murmurings pave the way on the opening “Duha” (Dawn), which expands into fervent rhythmic force heard on such other pieces as “Reaching Upwards.” Here, ElSaffar taps Western classical notions of brass ensemble writing and a rugged, ritualistic take on minimalism, spiced by drummer Nasheet Waits’ understated double-timing.
The percussive attack of ElSaffar’s santur solo in “Concentrics” segues into a wave of large ensemble charts that fuse big band writing with a Middle Eastern harmonic DNA.
On “Lightning Flash,” the warm sound of Jason Adasiewicz’s vibes organically interact with oud player Zafer Tawil, then veer toward more idiomatically jazz-hued riffs, closing with ghostly overtones on Naseem Alatrash’s cello.
What may sound akin to world-sampler esthetics coheres with ease through ElSaffar’s guidance — and offers some deeper message unity through music.
The Other Shore: Druha; Transformations; Reaching Upward; Ashaa; Concentric; Lightning Flash; March; Medmi (Epilogue). (78:56)
Personnel: Amir ElSaffar, trumpet, santur; Jason Adasiewicz, vibraphone; Tareq Abboushi, buzuq; Naseem Alatrash, cello; Fabrizio Cassol, alto saxophone; Carlo De Rosa, bass; Dena El Saffar, violin/joza; John Escreet, piano; Ole Mathisen, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone; Tim Moore, dumbek, naqqarat, frame drums; Miles Okazaki, guitar; JD Parran, bass saxophone, clarinet; Mohamed Saleh, oboe, English horn; Rajna Swaminathan, mridangam; Zafer Tawil, oud, nay; Nasheet Waits, drums; George Ziadeh, oud.
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