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| Jazz at the Maverick Series: Amir ElSaffar, and Two Rivers Ensemble on July 16 Maverick Concerts, the oldest continuous summer chamber music festival in America, celebrates the start of its second century of Music in the Woods this year. Amir ElSaffar and the Two Rivers Ensemble make their Maverick debut in the Jazz at the Maverick series, and offer the first of this summer's "New Century, New Voices" concerts: Date and Time: Saturday, July 16 at 8 pm Location: 120 Maverick Road, Woodstock, NY 12498 Tickets: 8 pm concert - www.maverickconcerts.org or call 800.595.4849 Artists: Amir ElSaffar and the Two Rivers Ensemble Musical Program: Jazz at the Maverick presents the Maverick Debut of Crisis Suite Expert trumpeter, santur player, vocalist and composer Amir ElSaffar makes his Maverick debut with his critically acclaimed sextet, Two Rivers Ensemble, which combines the musical languages and instrumentation of Iraqi maqam – the traditional Arabic music system – and contemporary jazz. In 2013, the Newport Jazz Festival commissioned ElSaffar's composition, "Crisis Suite, " and his emotional premiere at that year's festival inspired a standing ovation after just the first piece. ElSaffar composed the suite following a year spent living in Egypt, where he witnessed the Arab Spring protests, and in Lebanon, where he worked with Syrian musicians who were living through their country's civil war. For his Maverick debut, ElSaffar will present his stirring musical commentary on recent Iraq and Middle East history in its entirety. ElSaffar has been called "one of the most promising figures in jazz today" (Chicago Tribune) and described as "uniquely poised to reconcile jazz and Arabic music without doing either harm" by The Wire. ElSaffar was born in the U.S. and learned jazz here, but studied maqam in Baghdad and Europe. He has received numerous commissions – from Jazz Institute of Chicago, Chamber Music America, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and others – and is known for integrating Middle Eastern tonalities and rhythms into contemporary contexts. In addition to performing and recording with his own groups, ElSaffar has worked with many prominent jazz musicians, including Cecil Taylor, Mark Dresser, Henry Grimes and Oliver Lake. Maverick's "New Century, New Voices" is a seven-concert mini-festival featuring composers who may be new to Maverick audiences, or making their Maverick debut. The series is funded with major support from the National Endowment for the Arts and continues through September 11. This performance is also one of five performances in the Jazz at the Maverick series, which continues through August 13 with concerts by Vijay Iver, Fred Hersch and Jane Ira Bloom, and Julian Lage with his trio. Upcoming concerts for the week of July 23-24 feature performances by Kim and Reggie Harris, Vijay Iyer and Latitude 41. Details are below. Saturday, July 23, 11 am Young People's Concert Kim and Reggie Harris Admission is free for all young people under 16. Adults pay $5 each. Saturday, July 23, 8 pm Jazz at the Maverick "New Century, New Voices III" Vijay Iyer, solo piano Sunday, July 24, 4 pm Latitude 41 Haydn: Piano Trio No. 25 in G, Hob. XV:25 ("Gypsy") Shostakovich: Piano Trio No. 1 in C minor, Op. 8 Mendelssohn: Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor, Op. 66 write your comments about the article :: © 2016 Jazz News :: home page |