Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Amir ElSaffar / Hafez Modirzadeh: Radif Suite
Amir ElSaffar / Hafez Modirzadeh: Radif Suite
Working from traditions that include modal improvisation and untempered, microtonal pitches, the co-leaders present two extended suites here, "Radif-e Kayhan" by Modirzadeh and "Copper Suite" by ElSaffar, performed with the empathetic accompaniment of bassist Mark Dresser, whose bass will suddenly rise up to sing with the horns, and drummer Alex Cline, who can move from free jazz polyrhythms to ceremonial invocation to luminous cymbal washes that add a sense of timeless, lustrous reflection. Each suite moves through a sequence of melodies with group and solo improvisations and ever-changing moods. They're often executed with a rhythmic verve that combines a loose expressiveness with almost telepathic precision, invoking not only the early Coleman quartets, but more precisely Don Cherry's brilliant suites of the mid-'60s like "Complete Communion" and "Symphony for Improvisers." There are episodes of bouncing free-bop, elegiac ballads and muezzin-like calls to prayer. There's a musical language developing here with both tonal and collective dimensions.
As impressive as ElSaffar and Modirzadeh are as soloists, it's the collocations that are most meaningful, achieving rare emotional impact as trumpet and tenor rise together to match a precise microtonal pitch or dovetail their lines in moments of collective flurry. What stands out most is the emotional depth: on ElSaffar's "Doves over Zion," the trio of trumpet, tenor and bass manage to evoke both longing and the moment of apparent union.
Track Listing
Radif-E Kayhan: Facet One;Facet Two; Facets Three/Four; Facets Five/Six; Facets Seven/Eight; Facet Nine; Facet Ten; Facets Eleven/Twelve; Copper Suite:Introduction: Copper Refraction; Post-Idiomatic Blues/Cells A; Doves Over Zion (Dream of the Beloved)/Duet Interlude;Uganda/Trio Interlude; Bird of Prey; Awj/Ancestral Memory; Quintuplets/Triptych/Bass Solo; All Said and Done/Sirens/Reverence.
Personnel
Amir ElSaffar
trumpetAmir ElSaffar: trumpet, voice; Hafez Modirzadeh: tenor saxophone; Mark Dresser: bass; Alex Cline: drums.
Album information
Title: Radif Suite | Year Released: 2010 | Record Label: Pi Recordings