Amir ElSaffar

Amir ElSaffar (born October 8, 1977 in Chicago , Illinois ) is an American jazz musician ( trumpet , santur , vocals ) and composer .

Live and act

ElSaffar has an Iraqi father and an American mother. He first completed a classical music education at DePaul University in Chicago; he then studied both jazz and the traditional maqam singing style. After graduating, he moved to New York City and worked a. a. with Cecil Taylor , also with own formations. After winning two trumpet competitions in 2001, he traveled to Baghdad in 2002 , where he learned the santur from traditional Iraqi musicians and then from Hamid al-Saadi in London.

After returning to the United States, he began to incorporate Iraqi music into his jazz compositions. In 2007 he presented his debut album Two Rivers with Pi Recordings , on which Rudresh Mahanthappa also participated. His album Radif Suite , conceived with Hafez Modirzadeh and recorded in 2009 with Alex Cline and Mark Dresser , ties in with "the more exotic explorations of Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry ".

Awards

ElSaffar won the Carmine Caruso Jazz Trumpet Competition in 2001 and the International Trumpet Guild Jazz Improvisation Competition that same year .

Discographic notes

Two Rivers (Pi Recordings, 2007) with Carlo DeRosa , Nasheet Waits , Rudresh Mahanthappa, Zafer Tawil
Amir ElSaffar & Hafez Modirzadeh - Radif Suite (Pi Recordings, 2009) with Mark Dresser , Alex Cline
Inana (Pi Recordings, 2011) with Nasheet Waits, Zafer Tawil, Ole Mathisen
Rivers of Sound, Not Two (New Amsterdam, 2017)

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ Chris Barton: Album review: Amir ElSaffar's and Hafez Modirzadeh's 'Radif Suite' , Los Angeles Times (2010)

personal data
SURNAME	ElSaffar, Amir
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	El-Saffar, Amir
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American jazz musician and composer
DATE OF BIRTH	October 8, 1977
PLACE OF BIRTH	Chicago , Illinois

[1] Chris Barton: Album review: Amir ElSaffar's and Hafez Modirzadeh's 'Radif Suite' , Los Angeles Times (2010)