Bill Frisell, Rahim AlHaj & Eyvind Kang

In The Baghdad/Seattle Suite, the world of Americana and jazz improvisation by renowned guitarist, Bill Frisell, meets Iraqi maqams and originals via oud virtuoso Rahim AlHaj, while violist and erhu player Eyvind Kang, provides the bridge. Bill Frisell is unquestionably one of the most respected musicians in the jazz world— known for his blending of styles into a music which is unmistakably his own. Born in 1951 in Denver, he lived in New York for years, moving to Seattle in 1989, where he still resides. The Grammy award-winning Frisell has recorded over 30 albums. His work spans collaborations with jazz masters Paul Motian, Jim Hall and Ron Carter; to avant-gardists John Zorn; to jazz contemporaries Joe Lovano and John Scofield; to pop artists Burt Bacharach, Elvis Costello and Bono; to country and international artists, Viktor Krauss and Vinicius Cantuaria. Frisell met Rahim AlHaj at the Santa Fe Jazz and International Jazz Festival in 2004 at which point they first envisioned their present collaboration. Rahim AlHaj who was born in Baghdad, studied oud under the renowned Munir Bashir. Forced to flee Saddam Hussein’s Iraq for Jordan and Syria, he moved to Albuquerque in 2000. He has since toured the world extensively and released seven CDs, two of which have been Grammy-nominated including his most recent, Ancient Sounds, with sarod master Ustad Amjad Ali Khan on his own UR Music label. In 2009, he was awarded the prestigious United States Artist Award (as was Bill Frisell in 2006). Long-time Frisell collaborator Eyvind Kang’s music and interests span the worlds of contemporary classical, jazz, experimental rock, ambient and the middle east. Kang has released 7 albums of his compositions. As a violist and arranger, he has worked extensively with Laurie Anderson, Persian ney master Hossein Omoumi, and many more.

Lensic Tickets: $45/$35/$25/$15. $5 Discount. Members & Students (No Member Passes)  Available in advance, by phone or in person, at the Outpost Performance Space (268-0044); Lensic Box Office 505-988-1234; 
or on the web at www.ticketssantafe.org
Outpost Tickets: $30/$25 Members & Students.
Available in advance, by phone or in person, at the Outpost Performance Space (268-0044)

The Baghdad/Seattle Suite is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation Fund Project commissioned by the Outpost Performance Space in partnership with the Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, MN) and NPN. Major contributors of NPN are the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency), the MetLife Foundation, and the Nathan Cummings Foundation.

Bill Frisell, Rahim AlHaj & Eyvind Kang will also appear on Monday March 29
as panelists (4:30pm) and performers (7:30pm) at the UNM Composers Symposium.
Go to www.robbtrust.org for information. (See next page for ticket information.)