Amir ElSaffar’s Two Rivers Ensemble

Iraqi-American trumpeter, Amir ElSaffar is an accomplished jazz and classical trumpeter who has performed with Cecil Taylor, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Vijay Iyer, and Daniel Barenboim. Six years ago, he immersed himself in the centuries-old, oral tradition of the Iraqi Maqam, traveling to Iraq, the Middle East, and Europe to study with the masters. He also learned to play the santoor (Iraqi hammered dulcimer) and to sing, and formed his traditional group, Safaafir. ElSaffar adapted the microtones and ornaments of the maqam to his trumpet playing and has turned his attention back to jazz. His latest project, Two Rivers Suite, is “an emotionally-charged work that invokes ancient Iraqi musical traditions, framed in a modern Jazz setting.” The Quintet features Amir ElSaffar, trumpet, santoor; Rudresh Mahanthappa, saxophone; Damion Reid, drums; Carlo DeRosa, bass; and Zaafir Tawil, oud, violin and dumbek.  Thursday’s show at Outpost will witness the beginning of a long anticipated collaboration between Iraqi oud master/Albuquerque resident, Rahim AlHaj and Amir AlSaffar, as AlHaj joins the band on a couple of compositions. Friday’s concert in Santa Fe will have the renowned Santa Fe group, BING opening the concert. Consistently voted in the Santa Fe Reporter as one of Santa Fe’s favorite bands, BING was co-founded in 2002 by Molly Sturges (vocals and accordion) and Chris Jonas (saxophones). Grounded in improvisational structures, BING creates music that is a confluence of sounds paying homage to many global traditions and compositional ideas including Ethiopian and Indonesian pop, instrumental jazz and Cuban Son. BING created the live music for Circus Luminous (2003-2006) and has performed numerous original live soundtracks for 1920s silent films. This version of BING will include the original front line, but with a new Afro Latin rhythm section. Chris Jonas and Molly Sturges were recently awarded the 2008-09 United States Artists Fellowship, a distinction given to five national musicians each year. BING is Molly Sturges, voice and accordion; Chris Jonas, soprano and tenor saxophones; Ben Wright, acoustic guitar; Camilo Quinones, hybrid drum kit and percussion; Tony Quinones, congas; and Luis Guerra, acoustic bass. 

$22/$17 Members & Students. Available in advance, by phone or in person, at the Outpost Performance Space (268-0044).

Lensic tickets also available at the Lensic Box Office: 505-988-1234 or ticketsantafe.com.

This project is made possible in part by a grant from the National Performance Network’s Performance Residency Program. Major contributors of the National Performance Network include the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency), Altria and the Nathan Cummings Foundation. For more information: www.npnweb.org.