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| Kristjan Jarvi's "Absolute Arabian Nights" at Town Hall  The Town Hall will present the Absolute Ensemble on Saturday April 7 in the New York Premiere of Absolute Arabian Nights, a combination of classical music and jazz infused with the sound and spirit of the Middle East. Directed by Kristjan Jarvi (see photo) and created by Jarvi and Swiss composer and saxophonist Daniel Schnyder, the program will include traditional Middle Eastern instruments such as the nye (wood flute), oud (Arabian lute), various traditional percussion instruments and vocalists. Guest soloists include Marcel Khalife on oud and vocals, Bachar Khalife on hand percussion and Bassam Saba on nay. The concert will be an exclusive New York appearance.The Absolute Ensemble was founded by Kristjan Jarvi in 1993 to integrate, not segregate categories of contemporary music. Fusing its classical roots with everything from jazz and rock to world music and hip-hop, their inventive and daring combinations of styles have won exciting attention from audiences worldwide and music press. It features classic works of pop and jazz by The Beatles, Charles Mingus, Frank Zappa and John Adams, and also the more traditional type of classics by composers such as Bach, Stravinsky and Schoenberg. Guest artists with the group have included classical pianists Vladimir Feltsman and Joseph Kalichstein, and also jazz stars such as Paquito d'Rivera, Dave Taylor and Kenny Drew. The group has toured Europe, Central America and Australia, and has performed in New York at such venues as Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall and Alice Tully Hall. The ensemble continues to generate new projects, including the current Absolute Zawinul with the veteran composer/musician Joe Zawinul. They have released eight albums, and won the German Record Prize and a Grammy nomination. Estonian-born Kristjan Jarvi studied at the Mozarteum at Salzburg, the Manhattan School of Music and conducting at the University of Michigan. He then began his career as assistant conductor to Esa-Pekka Salonen at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and guest-conducted with the Netherlands Philharmonic and the Radio Turin Symphony in Italy, after which he became the music director of the Norlands Opera Company and Symphony Orchestra in Umea, Sweden. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |