Amir ElSaffar and the Two Rivers Ensemble

"A gorgeous record balanced between two worlds...a stirring example of the creative possibilities of international jazz in the 21st century."-All About Jazz

Jazz trumpeter Amir ElSaffar is an Iraqi-American composer and player who deftly connects his centuries-old cultural heritage with forward-thinking jazz concepts. His critically acclaimed recording Two Rivers invokes his dual heritage along with the Tigris and the Euphrates, rivers in the region long known as the "cradle of civilization" whose floods were forces of creation and destruction in the world's first cities. Drawing on ancient Iraqi songs and melodic sources and infusing this traditional foundation with multilayered post-bop rhythms, ElSaffar and his fiery ensemble dig deep in summoning the joyful spirit and the sorrowful heartbreak of this region's history and legacy.

The ensemble's powerfully emotional music features ElSaffar on trumpet and santoor (a type of hammered dulcimer), alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa (whose Dakshina Ensemble, heard here last season, shares a similarly cross-cultural impulse), Zafer Tawil on oud, violin, and percussion, Dakshina member Carlo DeRosa on bass, and Nasheet Waits (who last played at the Wexner Center with Jason Moran) on drums.



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